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Interstellar Advertising
Courtesy VisitLEX
Lexington, Kentucky, wants to attract some out-of-this-world visitors. Earlier this year, the city beamed a message into space that it’s calling “the world’s first interstellar tourism campaign.” It hopes to entice extraterrestrial life to come and see the sights. Designed with the help of scientists and scholars, the message includes images of some of the things the city’s best known for—such as horses and its bluegrass landscape—as well as symbols representing a sequence of prime numbers to show that it’s from an intelligent civilization. “Aliens, if you’re out there, greetings! This is your guide to experiencing the Horse Capital of the Galaxy,” the ad declares. “We think it’s well worth the 235 trillion-mile trip.” Officials aimed the message at the Trappist 1-star system, about 40 light-years from Earth, because it contains at least three planets that are in a “habitable zone,” according to NASA. So far, officials report no unusual activity in Lexington’s skies, but they may have to wait a while. Traveling at the speed of light, it’ll take 38 more years for the message to reach its target.
Promoting the ad campaign in Lexington, Kentucky