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NASA/AP
This photo provided by NASA shows the surface of Saturn's moon Enceladus. The
enthusiasm NASA has for finding otherworldly life is focused more on Mars and the Jupiter
moon Europa than the most recent findings on Saturn's moon Enceladus. (AP)
This photo provided by NASA shows the surface of Saturn's moon Enceladus. The
enthusiasm NASA has for finding otherworldly life is focused more on Mars and the Jupiter
moon Europa than the most recent findings on Saturn's moon Enceladus. (AP)
New Findings Prompt Resurgence of Alien Hunt
Recently discovered planets, Japan's interplanetary stakeout, and the discovery of alkaline soil on Mars are bringing new hope to the search for extraterrestrial life.
30-Second Summary
According to The New York Times, most of the 250 planets discovered outside our solar system “have no solid surface and [are] hundreds of times the mass of Earth.” Last week, however, scientists in Geneva listed 45 planets they believe are rocky like our own, renewing hope of life in outer space.
NASA’s Kepler spacecraft, slated to launch in February 2009, will follow 100,000 stars over four years, searching for signs of planets with a similar orbital path to Earth’s own.
Also in 2009, a dozen observatories in Japan will explore the question of life in outer space by filming one individual star for a few nights, recording radio signals and performing light analyses.
In Japan, the question of alien life dominated government discussions in December 2007, when cabinet member Nobutaka Machimura said he believed aliens “definitely” exist.
And in the small town of Hakui, Japan’s government funded what Time magazine writer Sachiko Sakimaki called a “$48 million UFO welcome mat.” However, alien fever might not have been what drove the project forward. Sakimaki speculates, “The Japanese government is an easy touch for funds that might bring business to fading areas.”
Additionally, the discovery of alkaline soil suitable for plant growth on Mars has fueled speculation of life on the Red Planet. "We basically have found what appears to be the requirements, the nutrients, to support life whether past, present or future," said Samuel P. Kounaves of Tufts University, who is leading the soil analysis.
NASA’s Kepler spacecraft, slated to launch in February 2009, will follow 100,000 stars over four years, searching for signs of planets with a similar orbital path to Earth’s own.
Also in 2009, a dozen observatories in Japan will explore the question of life in outer space by filming one individual star for a few nights, recording radio signals and performing light analyses.
In Japan, the question of alien life dominated government discussions in December 2007, when cabinet member Nobutaka Machimura said he believed aliens “definitely” exist.
And in the small town of Hakui, Japan’s government funded what Time magazine writer Sachiko Sakimaki called a “$48 million UFO welcome mat.” However, alien fever might not have been what drove the project forward. Sakimaki speculates, “The Japanese government is an easy touch for funds that might bring business to fading areas.”
Additionally, the discovery of alkaline soil suitable for plant growth on Mars has fueled speculation of life on the Red Planet. "We basically have found what appears to be the requirements, the nutrients, to support life whether past, present or future," said Samuel P. Kounaves of Tufts University, who is leading the soil analysis.
Headline Links: Researchers’ mission: locate alien life
According to The New York Times, an experiment on the Phoenix Mars lander revealed that soil found on Mars' northern arctic plains is alkaline and teeming with mineral nutrients necessary for plant growth. Although the discovery does not determine whether there has ever been life on Mars, it shows that conditions in that particular location "are not the harshest imaginable," says the Times.
Source: The New York Times
Japan’s plan involves a dozen or more of the country’s biggest observatories to examine one distant star for signs of life. Japan’s astronomers have analyzed radio signals from outer space before, but Shinya Narusawa explains that “sometimes it’s hard to tell whether [the signals] are artificial ones coming from the earth, for example from machines, or whether they are coming from the stars in the natural world.” Having several observatories focus on one star makes it easier to identify “suspicious signals.”
Source: MSNBC
The 45 planets, recently discovered and believed to be rocky, orbit too close to their stars to support life; however, scientists believe that planets at “earthier distances” are out there waiting to be discovered. Douglas N.C. Lin, an astronomy professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz said, “I would imagine that a significant fraction of ordinary Sun-like stars, maybe more than 10 percent, have habitable planets around them.”
Source: The New York Times
Background: Recent space exploration; Japan’s space race with China
In 2002, Time magazine writer Sachiko Sakimaki, speaking of Japan’s “$48 million UFO welcome mat,” asked, “How will the aliens know to touch down there and not at the McDonald’s down the road?”
Source: Time
In a 2005 article, Justin McCurry and Jonathan Watts of the Taipei Times catalogued the disappointments of Japan’s space program and discussed the China–Japan rivalry: “China may have put a man into orbit, but Japan, it seems, intends to build a station for him on the Moon.”
Source: Taipei Times
In 2007, an opposition lawmaker asked the Japanese government its stance on alien life. BBC journalist, Chris Hogg, reported, “It is the sort of question politicians dread but, under Japanese rules, are unable to ignore.”
Source: The BBC
Previous missions to Mars have determined that there is currently no life on the planet. But in May 2008 NASA sent the Mars Phoenix Lander to sample the Red Planet’s topsoil, looking for evidence that the environment could have housed water or even life.
Source: findingDulcinea
On June 3, 2008, the third portion of a “bus-sized” Japanese space laboratory named Kibo, meaning “Hope,” reached the International Space Station. Japanese mission specialist, Akihko Koshide said, “It has been 20-plus years to get this module up in space. It looks empty, but it’s filled with dreams.”
Source: NASA
Historical Context: The beginning of extraterrestrial research
The Pink Tentacle blog details an e-mail sent to Altair in 1983. According to astronomer Hisashi Hirabayashi, who sent the message, “if intelligent aliens received, decoded and responded quickly to the message,” a response can be expected as early at 2015.
Source: Pink Tentacle
The basis for most extraterrestrial-based research began with the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute, a nonprofit organization founded in 1984 that endeavors to “explain the origin, nature and prevalence of life in the universe.”
Source: The SETI Institute
Frank Drake, of the SETI Institute, completed the first “radio search for extraterrestrial life.” He also established the Drake Equation, which calculates the chance of finding intelligent life on other planets. Countless other scientists have used Drake’s and the SETI Institute’s research as a springboard for their own projects.
Source: MSNBC
Opinion & Analysis: Why all the fuss?
Blogger Bruce K. Gagnon cited two reasons for the global interest in space: “One is to give nations the ability to better coordinate warfare on Earth. The second is that many nations and corporations view space as the “new world.” Gold on asteroids, water and helium-3 on the moon, magnesium, cobalt, and uranium are believed to be on Mars.”
Source: Bruce K. Gagnon Zmag
Reference: Astronomy guide
FindingDulcinea’s Web Guide to Astronomy highlights the Web’s best resources for learning the basics, buying equipment, joining clubs and organizations, finding great photos and the latest news, and much more.
Source: findingDulcinea
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