From: skingsle@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Stuart A Kingsley)
Newsgroups: rec.video.satellite
Subject: Preview & Final Program For The Optical SETI Conference (Long)
Date: 6 Jan 93 20:02:16 GMT
Organization: The Ohio State University


There remains but two weeks to The First International Conference On
Optical SETI.  This will be the one and only time that this material will
be posted to this newsgroup.  If you want to see hear Arthur C. Clarke's
talk about "real" extraterrestrial communications, and would like to
participate in the Q&A phone hook-up with him, now is your opportunity . . .



                              CONFERENCE PREVIEW


              THE SEARCH FOR EXTRATERRESTRIAL INTELLIGENCE (SETI)
                            IN THE OPTICAL SPECTRUM

                           by Dr. Stuart A. Kingsley
                   Fiberdyne Optoelectronics, Columbus, Ohio


        From the author of the January 1992 six-part EJASA (THE ELECTRONIC
    JOURNAL OF THE ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF THE ATLANTIC) article (Vol. 3,
    No. 6A-6F) on Optical SETI (OSETI).

        The author would like to acknowledge that this electronic journal
    has been instrumental in the organization of this conference, for
    without last January's publication, this author would not have been
    invited by SPIE to put this conference together.

        You are encouraged to remail this material to anyone you know with
    interests in SETI or to print it out and pin it up on your astronomical
    society, company, faculty, or school notice board.  Some of the
    following material was featured in the October 1992 issue of EJASA
    (Vol. 4, No. 3) and the December 1992 issue of SPIE's OE REPORTS:


        Two and a half years ago I began "lobbying" the scientific community
    to reconsider the optical approach to the electromagnetic search for
    extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), first described by Nobel laureate
    Charles Townes (1964 - masers/lasers) in 1961.  Unfortunately, many of
    the strongest proponents for electromagnetic SETI have become dogmatic,
    and will not countenance open discussion of alternatives to microwave
    SETI, believing that the issue of the relative efficiencies of microwave
    and optical SETI was settled years ago in favor of microwaves.  Optical
    SETI has received very poor press ever since the skewed ETI laser
    transmitter assumptions in the Project Cyclops report, two decades ago.
    This NASA design study report, described a microwave array consisting of
    up to nine hundred 100-meter diameter dishes which if fully built, would
    have occupied an area 6.4 km in diameter and cost, in 1970's dollars,
    some ten billion dollars.  This grand project was never funded but the
    report itself has had a profound effect on SETI thinking.

        In the comparison table that appeared on page 50 of that report, the
    optical system modelled described an interstellar laser communication
    system that employed a 1.06 micron Nd:YAG laser, and a 22.5 cm diameter
    transmitting telescope.  There were various reasons for limiting the
    aperture of the ETI transmitter.  One reason arose out of unnecessarily
    constraining both parts of the system to operate on a planetary surface,
    within an atmosphere, and thus be limited by the atmospheric coherence
    cell size.  Another reason was to avoid the production of beams that
    were smaller than the zones of life around nearby targeted stars.
    However, the net effect was to cripple the potential very high Effective
    Isotropic Radiated Power (EIRP) of the optical transmitters.  It would
    be far better to build larger transmitting telescopes and defocus them
    when targeting nearby stars, if in the unlikely event, the ETI
    civilization did not possess the technical prowess to aim narrow beams
    into nearby stars.  In this way, the long-range EIRP would not be
    unnecessarily degraded.  The modelled "toy" ETI uplink telescopes put
    the onus on the young and technically immature receiving civilization
    (us) to build very large and expensive telescopes to receive weak
    signals from mature ETI civilizations, instead of the converse.  It was
    this part of an otherwise excellent report, that so distorted its
    conclusions concerning the efficacy and relative cost (to us) of the
    optical approach to SETI.

        If we allow for transmitting and receiving apertures to be 10-meters
    in diameter or larger, it can be shown for transmitter powers comparable
    to those for microwave systems, that relatively small diffraction-
    limited laser systems are capable of supporting far higher signal-to-
    noise ratios and data rates than the much larger microwave systems.  The
    extremely high gains of optical antennas more than make up for the
    additional quantum noise and stellar background radiation noise.  The
    lack of (currently) easily identifiable "magic optical frequencies",
    equivalent to the microwave waterhole between 1.420 and 1.662 GHz, save
    for the major CO2 transition at 10.6 microns, is not a reason to
    conclude that ETIs would not use lasers to signal Earth.  Indeed, the
    effectiveness of pulsed laser signals is so high, that there is less
    need to be concerned about the exact laser frequency.

        Indeed, from the viewpoint of communications with extraterrestrial
    intelligences (CETI), which is not presently being proposed, terrene SDI
    lasers of the late twentieth century are certainly capable of "reaching
    out and touching ETIs" across a thousand or more light years.  The
    problem today is that we don't know where to point our lasers, and we
    lack the means to provide precise forward predictive targeting of
    extrasolar planets.  Even more basic to this problem is that direct
    visual observations of other planets around nearby star systems await
    the technological developments of the next century.  In the meantime, we
    must take the passive, and perhaps safer approach of listening for ETI
    signals.

        Let it be noted here that the word "optical" is used in a manner
    familiar to optoelectronics (photonics) engineers and scientists, as an
    umbrella term. It is a superset of both "visible" and "infrared." The
    word "optical" is not to be taken as being synonymous with the word
    "visible", since the former (for communication engineers) covers all
    electromagnetic frequencies from the far-infrared to the ultra-violet.

        Last year, OE REPORTS had an interview with Dr. Monte Ross of Laser
    Data Technology Inc., in which he described his thoughts about the
    search for extraterrestrial intelligence in the optical spectrum.  At
    that time, I was unaware of Dr. Ross's work.  Last January, I had just
    published electronically on Internet a very long paper on the subject in
    this electronic journal.  This was the six-part article in THE
    ELECTRONIC JOURNAL OF THE ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF THE ATLANTIC (EJASA,
    Vol. 3, No. 6A-6F).

        As a result of my electronic paper, during the summer I was asked by
    Dr. David L. Begley of Ball Aerospace Systems Group, to organize a
    special session on Optical SETI (OSETI) for SPIE as part of the OE/LASE
    '93 symposium.  David Begley is the previous chairman of the Free-Space
    Laser Communications conferences.  The Optical SETI event was originally
    planned to be a single session in SPIE's Free-Space Laser Communication
    Technologies V conference, chaired by Dr. Stephen Mecherle of TRW, Inc.

        Even though summer was a difficult time to start organizing a
    conference, I was able to get so many papers at short notice, that the
    single session was extended into a dedicated conference with three
    sessions and a separate published proceedings.  The latter will be
    available as SPIE Volume 1867 after the conference and will constitute
    the first publication on this subject.  The conference will be held on
    January 21-22, 1993 at the Los Angeles Airport Hilton Hotel, and
    immediately follows the Free-Space Laser Communication Technologies V
    conference.  The Optical SETI conference cochair will be Monte Ross.
    This event is effectively, though unofficially, the First International
    Conference on Optical SETI.

        This SETI event will be of particular interest to laser
    communications scientists and engineers.  It presents the opportunity to
    help resolve the dichotomy within NASA that while lasers are fine for
    GEO to GEO, GEO to LEO, deep-space and interstellar communications, ETIs
    would not use such technology to signal emerging technical civilizations
    (us).  The first session will bring the laser communications community
    up to speed on microwave (conventional) SETI and general SETI related
    matters.  The second and third sessions are specifically devoted to
    optical SETI topics. Many shades of opinion are included.

        We are fortunate in being able to have Arthur C. Clarke kick off
    this conference from his home in Sri Lanka.  This will be a videotaped
    address.  These days, Clarke's health precludes extensive traveling. We
    are also investigating the possibility that NASA Select TV could cover
    the entire conference on a live or tape-delayed basis.  If you cannot
    attend this conference but would like to see it transmitted by NASA
    Select, write to SPIE and NASA Headquarters requesting this coverage. 
    The more people lobby for this, the more likely is the cooperation of
    the concerned parties.  For those with a TVRO (TeleVision Receive Only)
    satellite dish, NASA Select TV is available on Satcom F2R (72 W),
    Transponder 13.

        Among the 16 papers scheduled: Dr. David Brocker, who heads NASA's
    High Resolution Microwave Survey, will give the keynote paper on NASA's
    search for evidence of extraterrestrial technologies (Dr. Peter Backus
    will now be presenting this paper).  Drs. David Latham and David
    Soderblom will discuss the strategies for the SETI star targeting survey
    and Drs. Michael Klein and Samuel Gulkis from JPL will describe the
    high-resolution all-sky survey.  The "Grand Old Man" of SETI,
    Dr. Bernard M. Oliver, who is extremely critical of the optical
    approach, will demonstrate for the first time to the laser communi-
    cations community why ETIs would not use lasers for (SETI) interstellar
    communications.  Professor Frank Tipler, a strong critic of SETI, will
    explain why both microwave and optical SETI is a waste of time, since he
    thinks that we are the first civilization in this galaxy.

        Philosopher Clive Goodall will rebut Frank Tipler's arguments, and
    Noted philosopher Professor Neil Tennant will present his view of why
    there could be major problems in actually decoding the message on an ETI
    signal.  This may be the first time that philosophers have presented
    papers at a "technical" meeting on SETI, particularly one organized by
    SPIE.  Dr. Guillermo Lemarchand will describe both radio and optical
    SETI activities in Argentina, and give an account of the MANIA optical
    SETI project devised by the late Professor Shvartsman of the former
    Soviet Union.  Drs. John Rather and Monte Ross (conference co-chairman)
    will give accounts of their approaches to interstellar laser communi-
    cations, while this author will present a review paper and describe the
    amateur approach to optical SETI.  There will be a discussion at the end
    of the conference, moderated by Charles Townes, who earlier will talk
    about his CO2 optical SETI laser work, and the CO2 OSETI observations
    being conducted by Dr. Albert Betz on Mt. Wilson.

        Note that as with previous SETI publications, the latest book by
    SETI pioneer Professor Frank Drake and Dava Sobel "Is Anyone Out There?"
    hardly mentions the optical approach.  This conference intends to
    redress that omission.  This "controversial" OSETI conference should be
    a "fun" event but you don't need to be a laser communications engineer
    or SETI scientist to attend--you only need a curiosity about "our" place
    in the grand scheme of things.

        With large telescopes, Optical SETI is the one branch of visible
    astronomy, save for solar astronomy, that can be done during the day
    under a clear blue sky!

        In October, we saw the celebration of the Quincentennial of
    Columbus's voyage to the Americas and the official start of NASA's
    Microwave Observing Project (MOP), recently renamed the High Resolution
    Microwave Survey (HRMS).  Numerous articles on SETI have appeared in
    recent magazine publications, including the September issue of Life, the
    October issue of Astronomy, and the November/December issue of
    Smithsonian Air & Space.  See also recent issues of Time and Newsweek.
    The November issue of Sky & Telescope has a long article about microwave
    SETI, and mentions the optical approach.  This is probably the first
    published popular account of modern OSETI in the printed media.  See the
    bibliography at the end of this article.

        I have also begun the construction of what I believe to be the
    world's first amateur optical SETI (AMOSETI) Observatory.  This will be
    based around the Meade 10" LX200 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, and is
    one of the most advanced on the market today for use under computer and
    CCD control.  In the last paper of the conference, I will be reporting
    on the amateur approach to Optical SETI and any work done to date on my
    observatory system.  In many respects, the approach adopted by the
    author for AMOSETI is similar to that employed by Shvarstman and Beskin
    in the MANIA project, i.e., looking for very short pulses rather than CW
    beacon signals.   It is possible that AMOSETI will lead to a renaissance
    in amateur astronomy, where light pollution, the bane of astronomers,
    has no effect on ETI detection sensitivity!

        At this time during the sharp decline in the industrial-military
    complex, can there be a more ennobling way for defense conversion--to
    turn laser swords into SETI or CETI plowshares and help discover that we
    are not alone within the Milky Way galaxy?  Monte and I look forward to
    seeing you at this conference--at the rebirth of a new branch of
    science.


    Biography

        Stuart A Kingsley is a fiber optic consultant and Director of the
    world's first Amateur Optical SETI Observatory.  He received a B.Sc.
    Honors and Ph.D. in Electronic and Electrical Engineering from The City
    University, London (1972) and University College London (1984),
    respectively (England).  He worked at Battelle Columbus Division as
    Principal Research Scientist and then as Senior Research Scientist from
    1981 to 1987.  He has been involved in producing a variety of fiber-
    optic sensors, including fiber-optic rotation sensors.  He invented the
    fiber-optic line-stretcher and fiber-optic line-squeezer phase
    modulators that are now important components in fiber-optic sensor
    systems.  He shared a 1984 Rank Prize in Optoelectronics for pioneering
    work on fiber-optic sensing.  Other professional interests include the
    possible health effects of electromagnetic pollution, and adverse
    effects from fluorescent lighting/VDT flicker.  Author of 38 papers in
    fiber-optics, mainly related to coherent systems and distributed
    fiber-optic sensing, and several patents mainly in the area of coherent
    fiber-optic systems.  He is a member of the IEE, a British Chartered
    Engineer, a senior member of IEEE and a member of Eta Kappa Nu
    Association.  He is also a member of The Planetary Society, the Columbus
    Astronomical Society and a former member of the Astronomical Society of
    Haringey (ASH) in London.


                               CONFERENCE PROGRAM

                                   OE/LASE '93

               THE SEARCH FOR EXTRATERRESTRIAL INTELLIGENCE (SETI)
                             IN THE OPTICAL SPECTRUM

                            SPIE Proceedings Vol. 1867

    Location: Los Angeles Airport Hilton Hotel, Los Angeles, California,
    USA.

    Conference Chairman: Dr. Stuart A. Kingsley, Fiberdyne Optoelectronics.
    Co-chair: Dr. Monte Ross, Laser Data Technology, Inc.

    Room: Pacific A


             SESSION 1 - INTRODUCTION AND CONVENTIONAL MICROWAVE SETI

    Session Chairman - Dr. Stuart A. Kingsley, Fiberdyne Optoelectronics.

    Thursday, January 21, 1993

    Afternoon
    1:20 to 5:00 pm

        1:20 pm
        Opening Remarks
        Stuart A. Kingsley, Fiberdyne Optoelectronics


        1.30 pm
        "Let there be light"
        (Videotaped Keynote Address)
        Arthur C. Clarke
        Chancellor - International Space University, Sri Lanka.
        (1867-01)


        2:00 pm
        "The NASA search for evidence of extraterrestrial technologies"
        (Keynote Paper)
        David Brocker
        Project Manager, HRMS
        SETI Office
        NASA Ames Research Center
        (1867-02)


        2:30 pm
        "Strategies for SETI target selection"
        Dr. David W. Latham and Dr. David R. Soderblom
        Dr. David W. Latham
        Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

        Dr. David R. Soderblom
        Associate Astronomer
        Space Telescope Science Institute
        (1867-03)


        2:50 pm
        "High-resolution microwave all-sky survey"
        Dr. Michael J. Klein and Dr. Samuel Gulkis
        Dr. Michael J. Klein
        HRMS Program Manager
        Jet Propulsion Laboratory

        Dr. Samuel Gulkis
        Jet Propulsion Laboratory
        (1867-04)


        3:10 to 3:30 pm
        Coffee Break


        3:30 pm
        "SETI - a waste of time!"
        (Invited Paper)
        Professor Frank Tipler
        Physics Department
        Tulane University
        (1867-05)


        4:00 pm
        "Using modern analytical philosophy (MAP) to sweep the MOP clean:
        Non-optical reflections upon untapped data, bad arguments and the
        nonexistence of Von Neumann interstellar probes."
        Clive Goodall
        Department of Philosophy
        The Ohio State University
        (1867-06)


        4:30 pm
        "The decoding problem: do we need to search for extra terrestrial
        intelligence to Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence?"
        Professor Neil W. Tennant
        Department of Philosophy
        The Ohio State University
        (1867-07)


        5:00 pm
        Combined reception for the authors from this conference and the
        Free-Space Laser Communications V conference.



                            SESSION 2 - OPTICAL SETI I

    Session Chairman - Dr. Monte Ross, Laser Data Technology, Inc.

    Friday, January 22, 1993

    Morning
    8:30 to 11:45 am

     ----------------------------------------------------------------------
    |                             Special Event                            |
    |                                                                      |
    |   8:30 am                                                            |
    |   Technical attendees will have the opportunity to participate in a  |
    |   15-minute question/answer period with Arthur C. Clarke             |
    |   (in Sri Lanka) via phone hook-up.                                  |
     ----------------------------------------------------------------------

        8:45 am
        "Fundamental factors affecting the optimum frequency range for SETI"
        (Invited Paper)
        Dr. Bernard M. Oliver
        Deputy Chief, NASA SETI Office
        NASA Ames Research Center
        (1867-08)


        9:15 am
        "The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) in the optical
        spectrum and professional optical SETI: a review"
        Dr. Stuart A. Kingsley
        President
        Fiberdyne Optoelectronics
        (1867-09)


        9:45 pm
        "An economic rationale for extraterrestrials using lasers for SETI"
        Dr. Monte Ross
        President
        Laser Data Technology, Inc.
        (1867-10)


        10:05 to 10:35 am
        Coffee Break


        10:35 am
        "Infrared SETI"
        Professor Charles H. Townes
        Department of Physics
        Space Sciences Laboratory
        University of California, Berkeley
        (1867-11)


        11:05 am
        "Use of lasers for interstellar beacons, communications and travel"
        Dr. John Rather
        NASA Headquarters
        (1867-12)


        11:25 am
        "Optical SETI from the southern hemisphere"
        Dr. Guillermo A. Lemarchand, Dr. Gregory M. Beskin,
        Dr. Fernando R. Colomb, and Dr. Mariano Mendez
        Dr. Guillermo A. Lemarchand
        Visiting Fellow
        Center for Radiophysics and
        Space Research
        Cornell University

        Dr. Gregory M. Beskin
        Special Astrophysical Observatory
        Soviet Academy of Science

        Dr. Fernando Raul Colomb
        Director
        Instituto Argentino de Radioastronomia

        Dr. Mariano Mendez
        Researcher
        Observatorio Astronomico de La Plata
        (1867-13)


        11:45 am to 1:00 pm
        Lunch



                            SESSION 3 - OPTICAL SETI II

    Session Chairman - Dr. James R. Lesh, Jet Propulsion Laboratory

    Friday, January 22, 1993

    Afternoon
    1:00 to 2:00 pm

        1:00 pm
        "Application of one measure of search merit to optical SETI"
        Dr. D. Kent Cullers
        Signal Detection Sub-System Manager
        SETI Project
        NASA Ames Research Center
        (1867-14)


        1:20 pm
        "Large M-ary pulse position modulation and photon buckets for
        effective interstellar communications"
        Dr. Monte Ross
        President
        Laser Data Technology, Inc.
        (1867-15)


        1:40 pm
        "Amateur optical SETI"*
        Dr. Stuart A. Kingsley
        President
        Fiberdyne Optoelectronics
        (1867-16)


        "Recent progress in deep-space optical communication
        (Proceedings Only)
        Dr. James R. Lesh
        Jet Propulsion Laboratory
        (1867-17)


        Workshop/Panel Discussion
        2.30 - 4.30 pm
        Moderator - Professor Charles H. Townes, 1964 Nobel Prize Laureate,
        University of California, Berkeley.


        Closing Remarks
        4.30 pm
        Stuart A. Kingsley, Fiberdyne Optoelectronics
        Monte Ross, Laser Data Technology, Inc.


  * The last conference paper will give preliminary details of the design of
    the world's first Amateur Optical SETI Observatory, presently under
    construction in the author's backyard.

                                ---------------

        To receive a copy of the Advance Technical Program from SPIE which
    also provides information about registration, accommodation and costs to
    attend this conference (see details below), contact Rosa Cays
    (rosa@mom.spie.org) or Terry Montonye (terry@mom.spie.org) at:

        SPIE
        P.O. Box 10
        Bellingham
        WA 98227-0010
        Tel: (206) 676-3290
        Fax: (206) 647-1445


        For more information, the conference organizer Stuart Kingsley can
        be contacted at:

        Fiberdyne Optoelectronics
        545 Northview Drive
        Columbus
        Ohio 43209
        Tel: (614) 258-7402
        Fax: (614) 258-7459
        OSETI Bulletin Board System (BBS): (614) 258-1710
        Internet: skingsle@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
        CompuServe: 72376,3545


    OE/LASE '93 includes symposia over the period 16-23 January 1993 on the
    following subjects:

    Free-Space Laser Communications V (January 20-21, 1993).
    The Search For Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) in the Optical
    Spectrum (January 21-22, 1993).
    Laser Engineering (January 17-22, 1993).
    Optoelectronic Processing and Interconnects (January 17-23, 1993).
    Biomedical Optics '93 (January 16-22, 1993).

        There are also educational short courses (January 17-22, 1993) and
    two technical exhibitions, the Medical Exhibition (January 16-17, 1993),
    and the Laser and Sensor Exhibition (January 19-21, 1993).


    Registration
                              Member         Working         Non-
                                              Group         Member
    Full Conference*          $355            $380           $415
    Author (full conf.)       $290            $310           $340
    One day                   $165            $175           $190
    Author (one day)          $140            $150           $165
    Students (no lunch)       $ 60            $N/A           $ 70

    *Rate for a three-day conference.

    **There is no separate registration rate for the SETI conference.

        Attendees for the SETI conference will have to pay for two days.  If
    you can spare the time, attendees are recommended to take in the
    Wednesday morning and afternoon, and Thursday morning sessions of the
    Free-Space Laser Communication Technologies V conference, as this
    technology is very relevant to Optical SETI.  The cost for the full
    conference period (three days) is little more than for the two day OSETI
    conference alone.


    SPIE Proceedings Volume 1867              $ 35

        These proceedings will also include a copy of Dr. Lesh's large
    review paper on NASA's optical communications activities, which is to be
    presented at the Free-Space Laser Communication Technologies V
    conference.


    Accommodation

    Los Angeles Airport Hilton Hotel (OE/LASE '93 Conference Center)
    5711 West Century Boulevard
    Los Angeles, California 90045, USA
    Tel: (310) 410-4000
    Fax: (310) 410-6250

    Rates:
    Single or double (government)              $81
    Single or double                           $89 - $109


    Los Angeles Airport Marriott Hotel
    5855 West Century Boulevard
    Los Angeles, California 90045, USA
    Tel: (310) 641-5700
    Fax: (310) 337-5358

    Rates:
    Single or double (government)              $80
    Single or double                           $85 - $105


    Bibliography

        EJASA, Volume 3, Number 6, Parts 6A-6F, January 1992.

        EJASA, Volume 4, Number 3, October 1992.

        SKY & TELESCOPE, November 1992, pp. 513.

        LASER FOCUS WORLD, November 1992, p. 5.

        PHOTONICS SPECTRA, December 1992, p. 10.

        OE REPORTS, December 1992, pp. 1 & 3.

        COLUMBUS MONTHLY, January 1993, pp. 77-78,80.
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