Summary: Radio astronomy’s postwar rise enabled scientists to detect cosmic radio emissions and inspired some Soviet astronomers to search for engineered transmissions from extraterrestrial intelligences. Iosif Shklovsky’s radio detection of hydrogen helped catalyze public and scientific interest, leading to Soviet SETI initiatives and conferences at Byurakan (1964, 1971). The 1971 symposium formed an official international SETI group, a rare Cold War-era scientific collaboration; later international frequency-allocation agreements helped protect astronomical observations.
SETI’s “Noah’s Ark”: How Radio Astronomy Drew the USSR into the Search for Extraterrestrial Life
Summary: Radio astronomy’s postwar rise enabled scientists to detect cosmic radio emissions and inspired some Soviet astronomers to search for engineered transmissions from extraterrestrial intelligences. Iosif Shklovsky’s radio detection of hydrogen helped catalyze public and scientific interest, leading to Soviet SETI initiatives and conferences at Byurakan (1964, 1971). The 1971 symposium formed an official international SETI group, a rare Cold War-era scientific collaboration; later international frequency-allocation agreements helped protect astronomical observations.
20:00, 04.11.2025Science
SETI’s “Noah’s Ark”: How radio astronomy drew the USSR into the search for extraterrestrial life
Lead: In the decades after World War II, radio technology transformed astronomy and opened an unexpected door: the deliberate search for engineered radio transmissions from intelligent beings beyond Earth. In the Soviet Union, pioneering scientists such as Iosif S. Shklovsky pushed radio astronomy into bold public and scientific debates that culminated in international SETI gatherings at the Byurakan Observatory — events some contemporaries likened to a "Noah’s Ark" of East–West collaboration during the Cold War.
Radio waves, radar and a new kind of astronomy
Until mid-20th century astronomy relied mainly on optical (visible) light. After World War II, researchers adapted wartime radar and radio technology to receive natural emissions from space. These radio observations revealed previously hidden phenomena — most notably neutral hydrogen gas — and established radio astronomy as a powerful new way to map and understand the cosmos.
Shklovsky and the hydrogen discovery
In the Soviet Union, Iosif Samuilovich Shklovsky was central to developing radio methods for detecting hydrogen. Because much interstellar hydrogen is invisible in optical wavelengths, Shklovsky’s work with radio techniques helped astronomers map hydrogen distribution and motions across galaxies, a breakthrough that contributed to what historians call the golden age of radio astronomy beginning around 1960.
From interference to inspiration: the birth of SETI
Occasionally radio telescopes picked up human-made telecommunications, causing interference that threatened sensitive observations. That frustration also inspired a far-reaching idea: if radio telescopes were sensitive enough to detect human transmissions, perhaps they could detect transmissions from extraterrestrial technologies. This concept helped create a distinct scientific program — the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, or SETI — which treats technologically produced radio emissions as legitimate objects of scientific study.
Soviet experiments and symbolism
Shklovsky explored the possibility of contacting extraterrestrials in print and public outreach. In 1960 he published an article on the topic and expanded it into a popular 1962 book, Universe, Life, Intelligence. That same year the USSR Academy of Sciences transmitted a symbolic radar message toward Venus from Crimea: radio waves were bounced off the planet’s surface encoding the Morse words Lenin, USSR and mir (Russian for both "world" and "peace"). The experiment was primarily a technological demonstration and propaganda gesture — not a serious expectation of contact — though it also highlighted the growing tension between open scientific inquiry and state control over radio frequencies.
Organizing SETI inside the USSR
Most Soviet researchers interested in artificial signals were based around Moscow, where the USSR Academy of Sciences was located. To avoid unwanted publicity and to coordinate their activities more effectively, scientists convened at the Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory in the Armenian Soviet Republic in 1964. There they formed a group dedicated to studying anomalous or potentially artificial radio signals — effectively giving SETI an official, state-recognized profile within Soviet science.
"With official backing, Soviet researchers could legitimately look for artificial transmissions, even as discussions about such signals remained closely monitored because of military reliance on radio frequencies."
Byurakan 1971: a Cold War scientific détente
The Soviet program advanced to international engagement with the 1971 symposium at Byurakan. About 50 scientists attended, primarily from the U.S. and USSR, with participants from Czechoslovakia, Hungary, the U.K. and Canada. Delegates debated methods and priorities without full consensus, but they did reach a diplomatic milestone: the establishment of an official international SETI group that still connects researchers today. Some contemporaries compared the meeting to "Noah’s Ark" because it brought together nearly equal numbers of prominent scientists from both sides of the Iron Curtain near Mount Ararat — the legendary resting place of the biblical Ark.
Regulating the airwaves and SETI’s legacy
SETI arose at a time when radio-frequency usage was not yet fully regulated. The growth of telecommunications and satellite systems created pressure to manage interference, and in the 1970s international committees approved comprehensive frequency allocation plans to protect scientific observations. Remarkably, SETI began before these protections were in place and continued to coexist with evolving regulation.
Today, astronomers and signal analysts still search for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence while routinely discovering new astrophysical phenomena. SETI remains unique among branches of astronomy for its explicit focus on technological signatures rather than purely natural processes.
About this article: This piece is adapted from research by Gabriela Radulescu (Smithsonian Institution) and was originally published on The Conversation. Gabriela Radulescu has received support from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (Guggenheim Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2024–2025) and other academic grants. Republished with permission.