NASA joined in SETI efforts at a low-level in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Some of these SETI-related efforts included Project Orion, the Microwave Observing Project, the High Resolution Microwave Survey, and Toward Other Planetary Systems. On Columbus Day in 1992, NASA initiated a formal, more intensive, SETI program. Less than a year later, however, Congress canceled the program.

For more background on SETI history and the cancellation of NASA's SETI program, you may want to read an article from the Journal of the British Interplanetary Society. Part of the cancelled program was picked up by the private, non-profit SETI Institute, and a smaller part by the non-profit, grassroots SETI League. NASA is still very much interested in astrobiology and the question of whether or not we are alone has been adopted by the NASA Origins program. For a comprehensive look at current SETI issues, Sky & Telescope magazine's SETI Section contains regularly updated articles and resources.

We also have several related full-length books now on-line. You may want to view the full text and images of The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (NASA SP-419, 1977), which was edited by Philip Morrison, John Billingham, and John Wolfe. The Web version of Project Orion: A Design Study of a System for Detecting Extrasolar Planets (NASA SP-436, 1980) is now available on-line. A third SETI-related volume that is now on-line is Life in the Universe (NASA CP-2156, 1981). Special thanks to Chris Gamble for preparing these volumes for the Web.