The Search for Alien Life
There has been some big, exciting space news recently. According to NASA, who gave out the initial press release, their Spitzer Space Telescope has helped to find the ‘largest batch of Earth-size, habitable-zone planets around a single star’. In other words, seven planets have been discovered, similar in size to Earth that could harbour life and move around a star like the planets in our solar system do.
The most exciting part of all of this, obviously, is the possibility that at least some of these planets could harbour life! NASA has stated that ‘the discovery sets a new record for the greatest number of habitable-zone planets found around a single star outside our solar system’ – making this a discovery well worth paying attention to. The key here is that all of these planets could have water in liquid form – leading to the hopes about life on the planets. The star these planets are orbiting is TRAPPIST-1, making the plants TRAPPIST-1 b, c, d, e, f, g, and h. They may not have the most exciting names, but they definitely are part of an exciting trend in space research at the moment!
NASA are not the only ones looking for alien life out there. That is the focus of the SETI Institute (Search for Extra-terrestrial Intelligence). They are essentially hunting for life in the universe by searching for traces left by their technology. SpaceX are taking things in a slightly different direction, focusing more on getting people into space. As well as their aim to get humans to Mars, they have recently announced their goal ‘to fly two private citizens on a trip around the moon late next year’. There is a lot going on in space research at the moment, and although astronauts aren’t landing on the moon right now, this is definitely an exciting time to be part of!
Images: https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=planets&safe=strict&rlz=1C1CHWA_enGB60…