"E.T., you’ve got mail" is a national competition organized by the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics for primary and secondary school students. Inspired by the 1974 Arecibo message, students design binary-encoded pictograms to be transmitted via radio antenna toward stars hosting potentially habitable exoplanets. Two editions were held (2022, 2026), with winning messages broadcast from professional space facilities, the ASI Space Center in Matera and Telespazio's Lario Space Center, toward exoplanet targets. The activity integrates astronomy, mathematics, coding, and critical thinking, fostering computational skills and interdisciplinary reasoning. Students engage with topics ranging from binary encoding to scientific and philosophical challenges of interstellar communication.

About Maura Sandri

Maura Sandri is a Senior Technologist at the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF). She holds a PhD in Astronomy from the University of Padua and began her career as an optical engineer working on ESA's Planck satellite. Since 2020, she has been leading the Play INAF working group and has created and manages the Play INAF platform, the site for innovation in astronomy education and outreach. She is editor-in-chief of Universi, INAF's house organ, and a member of the Media INAF editorial team, where she has published more than 1,200 articles.