This farmer just wants to say hi to all the aliens out there.
Derek Klingenberg is a cattle farmer in western Kansas. He also has a pretty popular YouTube channel where viewers can find anything from farmer parodies, to Farmer Derek's fishing videos, to cow art.
Yes, Farmer Derek loves making cow art, basically by herding his cows into shapes that can be seen from the air.
He's herded his cows into the pi symbol (cow pi, get it?) and into a heart. Most recently, Farmer Derek organized his cattle into a message he wanted to send people in space, specifically to the dummy spaceman who went up in Elon Musk's Tesla currently orbiting Earth.
Check out Farmer Derek and his cows' "own space amazingness...farmer style."
Farmer Derek wanted to see if an orbiting satellite would capture the message seen from space. 200 Dove satellites of Planet Labs are currently orbiting the planet, taking photos every day of the earth's surface. The photos are collected as public data to help monitor crops on Farmer's Edge.
But Farmer Derek still had to figure out the exact time when an satellite would be passing over his cows. By using prior imaging from the satellites, he noted the length and direction of the shadows made by his grain silos, like a sun dial. From there he estimated the satellite to be passing overhead at 10 or 10:30 a.m. every day.
Next, he had to position the cows to say the message and hold them there for 20 minutes to ensure the satellite passes by. Derek lined up feed to perfectly say "Hi" and captured the whole process with his drone.
The message was received! When Derek checked the satellite images the next day, "Holy cow, there it is."
What a creative way to communicate with lifeforms in space. "Look, these are cows, and we can make them form messages. So, hi! We come in peace!"
What do you think of Farmer Derek's cow message? Tell us in the comments below.
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