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. 1993 Oct 21;365(6448):715-21.
doi: 10.1038/365715a0.

A search for life on Earth from the Galileo spacecraft

C Sagan  1 , W R Thompson, R Carlson, D Gurnett, C Hord
Collaborators, Affiliations

A search for life on Earth from the Galileo spacecraft

C Sagan et al. Nature. .

Abstract

In its December 1990 fly-by of Earth, the Galileo spacecraft found evidence of abundant gaseous oxygen, a widely distributed surface pigment with a sharp absorption edge in the red part of the visible spectrum, and atmospheric methane in extreme thermodynamic disequilibrium; together, these are strongly suggestive of life on Earth. Moreover, the presence of narrow-band, pulsed, amplitude-modulated radio transmission seems uniquely attributable to intelligence. These observations constitute a control experiment for the serach for extraterrestrial life by modern interplanetary spacecraft.

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