[wbraun]

The article is wrong. If you read the report its $30 - $50 million dollars, not billion.

I was a bit perplexed as to why the total could be so large....

[jfengel]

And it's not just a typo in the headline. They make the same mistake in the text. The actual report[1] is quite clear that it's a M, not a B.

[1] https://www.nsf.gov/news/reports/AreciboReportFINAL-Protecte...