Vakoch admits that the typical SETI approach has been to suppose that long-lived extraterrestrial civilizations would also be far-ranging technical wizards.

FORBES: SETI's 'L Factor':? Will E.T. Actually Be Around Long Enough To Phone Home?

"This is going to be the largest sample of an extraterrestrial object returned to Earth since end of the Apollo missions over 40 years ago, " said Edward Beshore, deputy principal investigator for the mission, who is based at the University of Arizona, Tucson.

CNN: So, about that asteroid near Earth ...

Staff tell an apocryphal-sounding anecdote from the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, when a promising signal turned out be a technician warming his lunch at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico.

BBC: Aye to the telescope

The fact that these probes will all be leaving the solar system led to NASA planning on some way to tell extraterrestrial beings something about human beings should they discover any of the probes.

FORBES: Voyager 1 Flies Through 'Magnetic Highway' On Its Way Out Of The Solar System

Moreover, a host of new technologies will be required, including more-powerful solar panels, electric-ion engines, extraterrestrial mining equipment and robotic refineries.

ECONOMIST: Mining asteroids: Going platinum | The