Still Searching: SETI Pioneer Jill Tarter Talks Shutdown, Aliens

Still Searching: SETI Pioneer Jill Tarter Talks Shutdown, Aliens

For many alien enthusiasts, Jill Tarter is synonymous with the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. As the SETI Institute’s research director — and the inspiration for Jodie Foster’s character in Contact — she’s done more than anyone to raise the search for cosmic company from a fringe effort to serious science.

After receiving a TED prize in 2009, Tarter had grand plans for the Allen Telescope Array, a proposed field of 350 big-nosed radio dishes that would be the world’s only dedicated SETI telescope, as well as its most sensitive. But this week, budget cuts forced the ATA’s existing 42 dishes into hibernation mode. The rest are now just a dream.

Wired.com talked with Jill Tarter about the shutdown and what it means for the future of SETI.