A Drake Equation for Alien Artifacts.

I propose a version of the Drake equation to include searching for alien artifacts, which may be located on the Moon, Earth Trojans, and Earth co-orbital objects. The virtue of searching for artifacts is their lingering endurance in space, long after they go dead. I compare a search for extraterrestrial artifacts (SETA) strategy with the existing listening to stars search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) strategy. I construct a ratio of a SETA Drake equation for artifacts to the conventional Drake equation so that most terms cancel out. This ratio is a good way to debate the efficacy of SETI versus SETA. The ratio is the product of two terms: one is the ratio of the length of time that probes from extraterrestrial (ET) civilizations could be present in the near-Earth region to the length of time that ET civilizations transmit signals to the Solar System. The second term is the ratio of the respective origin volumes: the volume from which probes can come, which is affected by the long-term passage of stars near the Sun, to the volume of transmitting civilizations. Scenarios are quantified that suggest that looking for alien artifacts near Earth is a credible alternative approach relative to listening to stars. This argues for emphasis on artifact searches, ET archeology. I suggest study of existing high-resolution images of the Moon, imaging of the Earth Trojans and Earth co-orbitals, and probe missions to the latter two. Close inspection in these near-Earth regions, which also may hold primordial remnants of the early Solar System, yields concrete astronomical research.