Extraterrestrial

NASA steps up the search for alien life

By T.K. Randall
April 24, 2015 ·  6 comments



The hunt is now on for a habitable extrasolar planet. Image Credit: NASA The Nexus for Exoplanet System Science (NExSS) aims to bring together climate scientists, heliophysicists, astrophysicists and several other groups of experts in a concerted effort to find evidence of life on other planets.

In particular the scientists will be attempting to better understand the conditions needed to support life and to find new ways to identity potentially habitable extrasolar worlds.

"This interdisciplinary endeavor connects top research teams and provides a synthesized approach in the search for planets with the greatest potential for signs of life," said Jim Green, NASA's Director of Planetary Science."The hunt for exoplanets is not only a priority for astronomers, it’s of keen interest to planetary and climate scientists as well."

In addition to the planet-hunting data that already exists thanks to the Kepler Space Telescope, the NExSS team will also be primed to analyze the data returned by two other upcoming planet-hunting missions - the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite which will launch in 2017 and the much anticipated James Webb Space Telescope which is currently scheduled for 2018.

Together the scientists will attempt to answer one of humanity's biggest questions - are we alone ?

The news follows NASA chief scientist Ellen Stofan's prediction that evidence of extraterrestrial life will be found within as little as two decades.

"I believe we are going to have strong indications of life beyond Earth in the next decade and definitive evidence in the next 10 to 20 years," she said.

Source: Belfast Telegraph | Comments (6)

Tags: NASA, Extraterrestrial, Extrasolar Planet

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