Jodi Foster helps keep SETI program going

By Jeffrey Van Camp August 18, 2011

contact-movie-1997-jodie-foster — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Jodi Foster is still hopeful that Contact, the 1997 film she starred in, may one day come true. The two-time Oscar award winner is among 2,557 donors who helped SETI (the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) resume its hunt for intelligent life in the stars. SETI had to halt its operations in April after federal and California budget cuts dried up its funding. The organization has announced that it exceeded its goal of $200,000 and has collected $223,000 from donors, Foster included.

Speaking with the AFP, Foster said that the Allen Telescope Array (ATA) is “‘good to go’ and we need to return it to the task of searching newly discovered planetary worlds for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence.” She added that SETI “could turn science fiction into science fact, but only if it is actively searching the skies. I support the effort to bring the array out of hibernation.”

It is unknown how much Foster donated, but it’s good to see the program back up.

“We are so grateful to our donors,” said Tom Pierson, who co-founded the SETI Institute with Jill Tarter, to the IB Times. “We believe we will be back on the air in September.”

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