Aleksandr Leonidovich Zaitsev
Encyclopedia
Aleksandr Leonidovich Zaitsev is a Russia
n and Soviet
radio engineer and astronomer from Fryazino
. He works on radar astronomy
devices, near-Earth asteroid radar
research, and SETI
.
Zaitsev is the chief scientist at the Russian Academy of Science's Institute of Radio
Engineering and Electronics
. He heads the group transmitting Team Encounter's interstellar messages using the Yevpatoria (Evpatoria) Deep Space Center (EDSC). Zaitsev is also serving as the SETI League's Regional Coordinator for Russia
.
Zaitsev's career has focused on three main topics: the theory, the design and implementation of radar
devices used in the study of Venus
, Mars
, and Mercury
; near-Earth asteroid radar
research; and interstellar radio messaging
, his current field of research.
Zaitsev observed the asteroid
4179 Toutatis
in December 1992 using the 70-m Yevpatorian Planetary Radar
in Crimea
(Ukraine
), as a sounding signal
transmitter
, and the 100-m radio telescope
in Effelsberg
, Germany
, as a receiver of the asteroid
's radar echo
.
In June 1995, Zaitsev was responsible for initiating the world's first intercontinental radar astronomy
experiment; the radar groups participating in this experiment were led by Steven Ostro at JPL, Zaitsev in Yevpatoria, and Yasuhiro Koyama in Kashima, Japan
. Ostro's group transmitted and received using the Goldstone
site of the Deep Space Network
, while Zaitsev received using the Yevpatoria site and Koyama's group received at Kashima
. The target asteroid, 6489 Golevka
, was later named for the participating observatories (GOL-EV-KA = GOLgstone-EVpatoria-KAshima). Zaitsev has also conducted work on using radar
to determine the composition of asteroids and planetary bodies.
Zaitsev supervised the transmission
of the 1999 and 2003 Cosmic Call
s from Yevpatoria Planetary Radar
(EPR). Under his leadership, a youth group in Moscow
composed and broadcast a 'Teen Age Message
to ETI'. Zaitsev proposed three-section structure of interstellar radio messages, coined the acronym METI
(Messaging to Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) and the phrase 'SETI paradox', which refers to an apparent "paradox" where two distant civilizations capable of interstellar communication will always remain silent unless one of them contacts the other first, resulting in a deadlock of silence.
In 2006-2008, Zaitsev was one of the contributors to the
1) ARTE
's German-French TV documentation "Die Außerirdischen" ("Calling All Aliens") by Christian Schidlowski;
2) Russian documentary "Overcome the Great Silence" by Vladislav Sidorov,
3) Dutch documentary "Calling E.T." by Prosper de Roos,
Zaitsev received his M.Sc. degree in radio
engineering from the Moscow
Mining University in 1967 and his Ph.D. (1981) and his postdoctoral lecture qualification (1997) in radar astronomy
from the Institute of Radio Engineering and Electronics, Russian Academy of Science in Moscow
. He is a member of the Space Guard Foundation, the SETI League, and The European Radio Astronomy Club
(E.R.A.C.).
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n and Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
radio engineer and astronomer from Fryazino
Fryazino
Fryazino is a scientific town in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located on the Lyuboseyevka River northeast of the city of Moscow. Population: Fryazino is a center of the Russian microwave electronics.-History:...
. He works on radar astronomy
Radar astronomy
Radar astronomy is a technique of observing nearby astronomical objects by reflecting microwaves off target objects and analyzing the echoes. This research has been conducted for six decades. Radar astronomy differs from radio astronomy in that the latter is a passive observation and the former an...
devices, near-Earth asteroid radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
research, and SETI
SETI
The search for extraterrestrial intelligence is the collective name for a number of activities people undertake to search for intelligent extraterrestrial life. Some of the most well known projects are run by the SETI Institute. SETI projects use scientific methods to search for intelligent life...
.
Zaitsev is the chief scientist at the Russian Academy of Science's Institute of Radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
Engineering and Electronics
Electronics
Electronics is the branch of science, engineering and technology that deals with electrical circuits involving active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection technologies...
. He heads the group transmitting Team Encounter's interstellar messages using the Yevpatoria (Evpatoria) Deep Space Center (EDSC). Zaitsev is also serving as the SETI League's Regional Coordinator for Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
.
Zaitsev's career has focused on three main topics: the theory, the design and implementation of radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
devices used in the study of Venus
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6, bright enough to cast shadows...
, Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
, and Mercury
Mercury (planet)
Mercury is the innermost and smallest planet in the Solar System, orbiting the Sun once every 87.969 Earth days. The orbit of Mercury has the highest eccentricity of all the Solar System planets, and it has the smallest axial tilt. It completes three rotations about its axis for every two orbits...
; near-Earth asteroid radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
research; and interstellar radio messaging
Communication with Extraterrestrial Intelligence
Communication with extraterrestrial intelligence is a branch of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence that focuses on composing and deciphering messages that could theoretically be understood by another technological civilization. The best-known CETI experiment was the 1974 Arecibo message...
, his current field of research.
Zaitsev observed the asteroid
Asteroid
Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...
4179 Toutatis
4179 Toutatis
4179 Toutatis/1989 AC is an Apollo, Alinda, and Mars-crosser asteroid with a chaotic orbit produced by a 3:1 resonance with the planet Jupiter, a 1:4 resonance with the planet Earth, and frequent close approaches to the terrestrial planets...
in December 1992 using the 70-m Yevpatorian Planetary Radar
Yevpatoria RT-70 radio telescope
The Yevpatoria RT-70 radio telescope is an RT-70 radio telescope and planetary radar at the Center for Deep Space Communications, Yevpatoria, Crimea, Ukraine. In the scientific literature is often called Evpatoria planetary radar .With its 70m antenna diameter, it is among the largest single dish...
in Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
(Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
), as a sounding signal
Signal (electrical engineering)
In the fields of communications, signal processing, and in electrical engineering more generally, a signal is any time-varying or spatial-varying quantity....
transmitter
Transmitter
In electronics and telecommunications a transmitter or radio transmitter is an electronic device which, with the aid of an antenna, produces radio waves. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the antenna. When excited by this alternating...
, and the 100-m radio telescope
Radio telescope
A radio telescope is a form of directional radio antenna used in radio astronomy. The same types of antennas are also used in tracking and collecting data from satellites and space probes...
in Effelsberg
Effelsberg
The Effelsberg 100-m Radio Telescope is a radio telescope in the Ahrgebirge in Bad Münstereifel, district of Euskirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.- Geography :...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, as a receiver of the asteroid
Asteroid
Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...
's radar echo
Radar astronomy
Radar astronomy is a technique of observing nearby astronomical objects by reflecting microwaves off target objects and analyzing the echoes. This research has been conducted for six decades. Radar astronomy differs from radio astronomy in that the latter is a passive observation and the former an...
.
In June 1995, Zaitsev was responsible for initiating the world's first intercontinental radar astronomy
Radar astronomy
Radar astronomy is a technique of observing nearby astronomical objects by reflecting microwaves off target objects and analyzing the echoes. This research has been conducted for six decades. Radar astronomy differs from radio astronomy in that the latter is a passive observation and the former an...
experiment; the radar groups participating in this experiment were led by Steven Ostro at JPL, Zaitsev in Yevpatoria, and Yasuhiro Koyama in Kashima, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Ostro's group transmitted and received using the Goldstone
Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex
The Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex — commonly called the Goldstone Observatory — is located in California's Mojave Desert. Operated by ITT Corporation for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, its main purpose is to track and communicate with space missions. It includes the Pioneer...
site of the Deep Space Network
Deep Space Network
The Deep Space Network, or DSN, is a world-wide network of large antennas and communication facilities that supports interplanetary spacecraft missions. It also performs radio and radar astronomy observations for the exploration of the solar system and the universe, and supports selected...
, while Zaitsev received using the Yevpatoria site and Koyama's group received at Kashima
Kashima, Ibaraki
is a port city located in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan.As of October 1, 2010, the city has an estimated population of 66,249 and a population density of 708.02 persons per km². The total area is 93.57 km². Kashima was formerly a town in Kashima District and became a city after merging with the...
. The target asteroid, 6489 Golevka
6489 Golevka
6489 Golevka is an Apollo, Mars-crosser and Alinda asteroid, discovered in 1991 by Eleanor F. Helin.Its name has a complicated origin. In 1995, Golevka was studied simultaneously by three radar observatories across the world: Goldstone in California, Yevpatoria RT-70 radio telescope in Ukraine and...
, was later named for the participating observatories (GOL-EV-KA = GOLgstone-EVpatoria-KAshima). Zaitsev has also conducted work on using radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
to determine the composition of asteroids and planetary bodies.
Zaitsev supervised the transmission
Data transmission
Data transmission, digital transmission, or digital communications is the physical transfer of data over a point-to-point or point-to-multipoint communication channel. Examples of such channels are copper wires, optical fibres, wireless communication channels, and storage media...
of the 1999 and 2003 Cosmic Call
Cosmic Call
Cosmic Call was the name of two interstellar radio messages that were sent from RT-70 in Yevpatoria in 1999 and 2003 to various nearby stars. The messages were designed with noise resistant format and characters....
s from Yevpatoria Planetary Radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
(EPR). Under his leadership, a youth group in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
composed and broadcast a 'Teen Age Message
Teen Age Message
The Teen Age Message was a METI message, transmitted from the Yevpatoria Planetary Radar to 6 nearby Sun-like stars during August–September 2001. Unlike the previous digital-only Messages, Arecibo-1974 and Cosmic Call 1, the TAM has complex, three-section structure with different forms of...
to ETI'. Zaitsev proposed three-section structure of interstellar radio messages, coined the acronym METI
Active SETI
Active SETI is the attempt to send messages to intelligent aliens. Active SETI messages are usually in the form of radio signals. Physical messages like that of the Pioneer plaque may also be considered an active SETI message...
(Messaging to Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) and the phrase 'SETI paradox', which refers to an apparent "paradox" where two distant civilizations capable of interstellar communication will always remain silent unless one of them contacts the other first, resulting in a deadlock of silence.
In 2006-2008, Zaitsev was one of the contributors to the
1) ARTE
Arte
Arte is a Franco-German TV network. It is a European culture channel and aims to promote quality programming especially in areas of culture and the arts...
's German-French TV documentation "Die Außerirdischen" ("Calling All Aliens") by Christian Schidlowski;
2) Russian documentary "Overcome the Great Silence" by Vladislav Sidorov,
3) Dutch documentary "Calling E.T." by Prosper de Roos,
Zaitsev received his M.Sc. degree in radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
engineering from the Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
Mining University in 1967 and his Ph.D. (1981) and his postdoctoral lecture qualification (1997) in radar astronomy
Radar astronomy
Radar astronomy is a technique of observing nearby astronomical objects by reflecting microwaves off target objects and analyzing the echoes. This research has been conducted for six decades. Radar astronomy differs from radio astronomy in that the latter is a passive observation and the former an...
from the Institute of Radio Engineering and Electronics, Russian Academy of Science in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
. He is a member of the Space Guard Foundation, the SETI League, and The European Radio Astronomy Club
The European Radio Astronomy Club
The European Radio Astronomy club is Europe's only group coordinating the work of radio astronomers to jointly use radio waves to study the universe at radio wavelengths...
(E.R.A.C.).
Awards
- In 1985, Zaitsev received the USSR State PrizeUSSR State PrizeThe USSR State Prize was the Soviet Union's state honour. It was established on September 9, 1966. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, the prize was followed up by the State Prize of the Russian Federation....
in Science. - In 1989, he received the Koroliov Medal of the Soviet Space Federation.
- In 1995, the International Astronomical UnionInternational Astronomical UnionThe International Astronomical Union IAU is a collection of professional astronomers, at the Ph.D. level and beyond, active in professional research and education in astronomy...
named the asteroidAsteroidAsteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...
1976 GH2 as 6075 Zajtsev6075 Zajtsev6075 Zajtsev is a main-belt asteroid discovered on April 1, 1976 by N. S. Chernykh at Nauchnyj.Quote from Minor Planet Circular No 25445, 1995 :"Named in honor of Alexander L. Zaitsev, Chief Scientist of the Institute of Radio-engineering and Electronics, Russia... - In 1997, he received the Tsiolkovsky Medal of the Russian Space Federation.
- In 2003, Zaitsev received Ukrainian jubilee medal '2500th Anniversary of Evpatoria',