Post by Andrei Tchentchik on Apr 5, 2019 12:35:52 GMT 2
(.#162).- NASA predicts the discovery of extraterrestrial life by 2025.
NASA predicts the discovery of extraterrestrial life by 2025.
Photo taken by Hubble Telescope - AFP PHOTO / NASA / ESA / J.JEE (UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS) / HANDOUT
NASA is convinced: the evidence of extraterrestrial life is not very far ahead. Scientists at the American space agency say it: we should formally prove the existence of life outside the Earth before the middle of the century.
Humanity is on the verge of discovering extraterrestrial life, say NASA scientists. "I believe that in the next ten years we will discover important signs of extraterrestrial life, and I think that in the next 20 or 30 years, we will have the formal proof," said Ellen Stofan, director of the division of Science of NASA, in charge of the scientific exploration of the Earth, the Solar System and the universe.
Speaking at a panel discussion on finding habitable worlds and extraterrestrial life, Stofan said, "In most cases, we have the necessary technology and we are about to implement it. So we are on the right track, we know where to look and we know how to look. "
Shared optimism
The optimism of the director, reported by several US media, is shared by other experts in space exploration. At the same round table, John Grunsfeld, a former astronaut from the US space agency, expressed confidence that the moment of the "great meeting" was near.
"I think we are a generation from the discovery of signs of life in our solar system and a generation of the discovery of traces of life on an exoplanet".
These observations are based on evidence already demonstrated. From the oceans that covered Mars to the ice cap of Europe and Ganymede, the moons of Jupiter, everything indicates that life could - and could - develop elsewhere than on Earth.
A universe studded with habitable planets
In addition, the images captured by the Kepler telescope, specialized in the search for planets, go in the same direction: almost all the stars of the sky are surrounded by planets and among these, many would meet the conditions necessary for the development of life .
But from the demonstration of a potential for the development of an extraterrestrial life to the collection of real evidence of life, past or present, the gap is gigantic. The arrival in 2018 of a new space telescope, the James Webb Spatial Telescope, could accelerate the pace of discoveries by facilitating the study of exoplanet atmospheres. Do not displease the solitary, we should soon no longer be alone in the universe ..
François DE LA TAILLE
F I N .
NASA predicts the discovery of extraterrestrial life by 2025.
Photo taken by Hubble Telescope - AFP PHOTO / NASA / ESA / J.JEE (UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS) / HANDOUT
NASA is convinced: the evidence of extraterrestrial life is not very far ahead. Scientists at the American space agency say it: we should formally prove the existence of life outside the Earth before the middle of the century.
Humanity is on the verge of discovering extraterrestrial life, say NASA scientists. "I believe that in the next ten years we will discover important signs of extraterrestrial life, and I think that in the next 20 or 30 years, we will have the formal proof," said Ellen Stofan, director of the division of Science of NASA, in charge of the scientific exploration of the Earth, the Solar System and the universe.
Speaking at a panel discussion on finding habitable worlds and extraterrestrial life, Stofan said, "In most cases, we have the necessary technology and we are about to implement it. So we are on the right track, we know where to look and we know how to look. "
Shared optimism
The optimism of the director, reported by several US media, is shared by other experts in space exploration. At the same round table, John Grunsfeld, a former astronaut from the US space agency, expressed confidence that the moment of the "great meeting" was near.
"I think we are a generation from the discovery of signs of life in our solar system and a generation of the discovery of traces of life on an exoplanet".
These observations are based on evidence already demonstrated. From the oceans that covered Mars to the ice cap of Europe and Ganymede, the moons of Jupiter, everything indicates that life could - and could - develop elsewhere than on Earth.
A universe studded with habitable planets
In addition, the images captured by the Kepler telescope, specialized in the search for planets, go in the same direction: almost all the stars of the sky are surrounded by planets and among these, many would meet the conditions necessary for the development of life .
But from the demonstration of a potential for the development of an extraterrestrial life to the collection of real evidence of life, past or present, the gap is gigantic. The arrival in 2018 of a new space telescope, the James Webb Spatial Telescope, could accelerate the pace of discoveries by facilitating the study of exoplanet atmospheres. Do not displease the solitary, we should soon no longer be alone in the universe ..
François DE LA TAILLE
F I N .
