Visitors to the Greenwich Observatory Planetarium look up in awe during out-of this- world audio drama space beaming, to mark the launch of Alien: River of Pain – an Audible audio drama exclusive
Hundreds of people witnessed a one-of-a-kind event last night as an audiobook was beamed into space for the first time ever.
The audio drama Alien: River of Pain was transmitted from the Royal Observatory Greenwich, with onlookers afforded the chance to see the audio drama get converted into a digital signal and beamed out into the atmosphere, before listening themselves.
The transmission was created by audiobook retailer Audible to celebrate the release of Alien: River of Pain, which details the Alien saga between the first two films.
Royal Observatory Greenwich Astronomer Tom Kerss said: “With a very powerful and highly directed transmission there is a possibility that our signals could one day be intercepted by intelligent alien lifeforms.
“These life forms may well be listening out for radio signals from space. Simply put, aliens could tune in to Aliens in the future.”
Travelling at the speed of light, the interstellar broadcast will reach as far as the star known as 55 Cancri, in the constellation of Cancer.
It will also bounce around the star’s five known exoplanets, which astronomers hope may even support life forms.
However, the signal won’t get that far for 40 years, meaning that if aliens wanted to send a signal back in the same way, we’ll be waiting until almost the year 2100.
Alien: River of Pain will be released on Alien Day, April 26th 2017 and is available to pre-order now.
