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