SCIENTISTS BELIEVE THEY COULD DISCOVER LIFE OUTSIDE THE SOLAR SYSTEM

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From: NewsProfiles@aol.net
Title:SCIENTISTS BELIEVE THEY COULD DISCOVER LIFE OUTSIDE THE SOLAR SYSTEM
Source:Reuter
Date:March 14, 1996


By Isabel Garcia-Zarza

TOLEDO, Spain (Reuter) - Scientists believe they could

discover life outside the solar system within the next 25 years.

``Yes, definitely, there's life out there,'' Mike Kaplan,

director of U.S. space agency NASA's Origins program, told

Reuters during a meeting of astronomers in Toledo.

``I don't think we're alone.

``We'll take some time to contact them, but one day we will

meet them and we will be surprised because they will be very

different from us,'' Kaplan said Tuesday.

Within a maximum of 25 years, it will be possible to

discover life outside Earth, Kaplan said.

``Planet hunters'' from across the world have gathered in

this historic Spanish city to discuss infrared interferometry, a

technology which will help the search for life outside the solar

system.

``This is the first time that projects are being conceived

that will allow us to solve in around 20 years questions that

humankind has been asking for centuries,'' Kaplan said.

Last October Swiss astronomers detected a planet outside the

solar system for the first time. Shortly afterwards, American

scientists discovered two other planets.

Astronomers meeting in Toledo, excited by the discoveries,

say the question is no longer whether life can be discovered on

other planets but simply when it can be done.

``For the first time, it's not a dream, it's just a question

of time,'' said Kaplan, whose Origins program aims to study the

origins of the universe, the formation of planets and the

existence of life outside the solar system.

``Life on other planets, if not identical, will be very

similar to that on Earth,'' leading Spanish biologist Juan Oro

told a news conference.

Traditional telescopes, of which NASA's Hubble Space

Telescope is the most powerful, cannot contribute to the search

because the light from the stars drowns out that of the planets

which orbit near them.

The infrared interferometer, 40 times more powerful than

Hubble, would be capable of determining through infrared rays

whether newly discovered planets have the necessary conditions,

like water and oxygen, to shelter life.

Both NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) have

separately started to develop infrared technology, but both say

international cooperation is needed for such a project.

ESA in February unveiled the first photographs taken by its

Infrared Space Observatory, which can see through dense dust

clouds.

NASA estimates the budget for building its interferometer at

$200 million a year for a period of 10 years. Europeans and

Americans agree the project inaugurates a new era for humankind.

``Discovering life out there would change everything:

philosophy, religion...and would make us feel humbler because we

would find out that we're not alone and we're not that

special,'' Kaplan said.

``It's the beginning of a new era of explorations, a new age

of Galileo, and what's exciting about it is that it's within

reach.''