A Decade to Proof of Alien Life
NASA has made several predictions in the past. Some were completely misinterpreted, and others simply failed, but in general they are expressed with a certain amount of scientific evidence in their favor. Between the oceans of Europa and Ganymede, and the detection of planets with parameters similar to Earth orbiting other stars, the space agency believes that we are ten years away from finding solid evidence of the existence of life beyond our planet.
I think there is no doubt in saying that the discovery of life beyond Earth would be one of the greatest (if not the greatest) in the entire history of the human race. Our scientific, philosophical, and religious views would change forever, though no one can know with certainty whether those changes would be for better or for worse. The point is that we must keep searching. The Solar System has very firm candidates to harbor life, and NASA not only recognizes this, but has established a minimum of ten years to its detection. This prediction comes through Ellen Stofan, Chief Scientist of the agency, who participated in a panel on extraterrestrial life yesterday. Stofan added that they already know “where and how to look,” and that in most cases they have the technology to do so, so only its implementation is missing. The definitive evidence about the existence of life would take between 20 and 30 years.
Joining Stofan’s words are those of John Grunsfeld, former astronaut and current associate administrator of the Science Mission Directorate at the space agency, but instead of measuring the wait in years, Grunsfeld said that we are “one generation” away from discovering life within the Solar System, and one generation more from discovering it on a planet orbiting a distant star. Finally, Paul Hertz, director of the Astronomy Division at NASA, joined the prediction by saying that both the Solar System and the rest of the Milky Way are full of water, a critical element for the development of life as we know it here.
What’s Next for NASA
This inevitably leads us to explore NASA’s next missions. The next rover to visit Mars will be launched at some point in 2020, and the plan to send humans remains relatively firm within the 2030s. The mission to Europa will also be very important, with a total cost exceeding two billion dollars, though we will have to wait at least until 2022 to see it in action. If everything goes well, one of the most compelling achievements this decade will be the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope. The telescope’s situation is complicated, as it is drastically over budget ($8.8 billion), but if we want to find more super-Earths and other similar planets, every cent will be needed. In other words, NASA feels very confident in making such a prediction. I just hope that no political excuse throws it down the drain.
