How science is accelerating our search for alien life

Buoyed by recent discoveries, NASA now boldly predicts we'll find extraterrestrial life within the next 20 years

Why are scientists so optimistic?

The Kepler space telescope gets much of the credit. Before it was launched into orbit in 2009, astronomers couldn't be sure whether planets existed outside our solar system. The search for extraterrestrial life was mostly focused on our own solar system — on Mars and a number of moons around Jupiter and Saturn — and on an intergalactic eavesdropping project known as SETI (the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence). For 50 years, SETI has been using radio telescopes to listen for signals from an alien civilization somewhere out there in the cosmos, with no "Hello there!" detected thus far. But when Kepler began scrutinizing the stars from its perch beyond the atmosphere, its unprecedented resolution gave scientists a tool to detect the relatively dim planets circling them. Using the telescope's data, scientists now estimate there are more than 100 billion exoplanets (planets outside our solar system) in the Milky Way galaxy alone. One in every five stars, they've concluded, has a planet that is habitable, and Kepler can help pinpoint which ones to examine for signs of life. "It's within our grasp to pull off a discovery that will change the world forever," says telescope scientist Matt Mountain.

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