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September 2010_june_july_2009.qxd 29/09/2010 11:00 PM Page 43 Mission to search for alien life 43 Mission to search for alien are high levels of harmful ultraviolet light, finding other Earth-like planets orbiting other which can kill most forms of life. stars. life in outer atmosphere But scientists have already found During a press interview yesterday, bacteria on Earth which thrives in similar Steven Vogt, a professor of astronomy and conditions and some species of bacteria can astrophysics at the University of California, Life from outer space could be form spores which allows them to survive Santa Cruz said, "Personally, given the ubiquity surviving on the outer fringes of inhospitable conditions for long periods of time. and propensity of life to flourish wherever it Nine years ago scientist from India the Earth's atmosphere, attempted to discover if life could exist in the can, I would say, my own personal feeling is that the chances of life on this planet are 100 according to scientists who are to stratosphere but their findings were quickly cast percent….I have almost no doubt about it." launch a mission to search for into doubt by claims they had failed to ensure His colleague, Paul Butler of the bacteria that could be living the collecting equipment was sterile. Carnegie Institution of Washington, in Washington, D.C., didn’t go as far as Vogt, but The new mission, called CASS-E has there. been assembled in a sterile environment also admitted optimism. normally reserved for missions being sent to Sara Seager, an astrophysicist at the By Richard Gray other planets such as Mars. Massachusetts Institute of Technology told It also has been fitted with special seals SPACE.com, "It's both an incremental and In science fiction films the search for aliens to prevent any bacteria from Earth that is being monumental discovery." She continued by involves travelling across the galaxy to planets carried on the surface of the instrument getting saying, "It really is monumental if you accept millions of miles away. inside the sterile collection area. this as the first Earth-like planet ever found in But scientists believe they could be Life is thought to have first emerged on the star's habitable zone." close to discovering alien life forms much Earth around 3.8 billion years ago but how it “This is the first one I’m truly excited closer to home – on the outer fringes of Earth's started has been a topic of much debate. about,” said Penn State University’s Jim atmosphere. Some astrobiologists believe that the Kasting. He said this planet is a “pretty prime British scientists, working with the seeds for life on Earth actually began elsewhere candidate” for harboring life. European Space Agency, will this week launch in the galaxy and microbes were carried here on Scientists have discerned that the planet a balloon carrying instruments to search the an icy asteroid or comet that collided with our is about three times the mass of Earth, slightly stratosphere for bacteria and other planet. larger in width and much closer to its star, 14 microorganisms. Recent research has also suggested that million miles away versus 93 million. They believe there could be species life on Earth could even predate a heavy Goldilocks orbits its sun every 37 days, and the capable of surviving in the high levels of asteroid bombardment around 3.9 billion years planet doesn’t rotate as much as earth. radiation, extreme cold and near vacuum found ago by surviving in underground habitats where Temperatures range from 25 degrees below zero on the edge of space. it was protected from the impacts. to 160 degrees Farenheit, but large areas The organisms could be entirely new to Asteroids still continue to hit the Earth – provide “shirtsleeves weather.” Scientists don’t science and may even have been brought here last year there was an explosion over Indonesia know whether water exists, but conditions are from outer space by hitching a ride on asteroids – but are far less regular and most tend to burn right for it, and atmosphere still remains a or comets. up in the atmosphere. question. If they succeed, it would be the first time Scientists claim that some could leave The planet is about 120 trillion miles alien life had been captured and would lend life behind in the outer atmosphere before they from earth, but when talking about the vast substantial weight to theories that all life on burn up. expanses of space, Vogt says it’s “like right in Earth was brought here from elsewhere in the our face, right next door to us.” galaxy. Goldilocks Found in Vogt went on to say that the universe They also hope they may find new types plays host to an estimated 200 billion stars, of bacteria that have been thrown up into the Outer Space: We May Not which means that maybe 40 billion planets have atmosphere by erupting volcanoes. be Alone the potential for life. With such odds in mind Clara Juanes-Vallejo, who is leading the and the discovery of Goldilocks, perhaps the research team at Cranfield University, said: universe is literally teeming with all sorts of "There are theories that life on Earth came from September 29, 2010 scientists life. space, so we need to know that life can survive announced the discovery of the Goldilocks the conditions of space for this to be true. planet. After an eleven-year search, they found ‘X’ ZONE "The environment in the stratosphere is it orbiting Gliese 581g in the “Golidlocks very extreme. It can get down to -90 degrees C Zone,” that area around a sun that’s not too hot FACT*OIDS and is a near vacuum. There is also a lot of and not too cold. harmful radiation as there is not the same level Researchers say the Golidlocks planet is * In a single day, a pair of termites can produce of protection as we get from the atmosphere. the right distance from its sun, and is the right as many as 30,000 offspring. "If we know that life can survive in such size for surface, gravity, and atmosphere to have an extreme environment, then it could also liquid water, all necessary elements to begin and * Alexander Graham Bell’s father-in-law survive in places like Mars or on asteroids. sustain life. In addition, the planet orbits a sun invented the burglar alarm. "If we find microorganisms up there, that scientists speculate with outlive our own there are a number of ways it could have sun, Sol, and so life will have the chance to * Karate was invented in India. arrived. It could have come from space itself, or develop for billions of years to come. it could be from our own volcanoes that have * Take you weight and divide by three. That’s projected material up there." Researchers optimistically hope to how much your legs weigh. The £60,000 balloon-borne mission, discover life on Goldilocks which has been developed along with * Alexander the Great introduced the eggplant electronics firm Alpha Micro, will be sent more To date, scientists have discovered 492 to Europe. than 21 miles into the air above the arctic circle exoplanets (planets outside our own solar where it will suck the thin air through a series of system), but Goldilocks differs because of the * King Henry VIII owned tennis shoes. filters. life-sustaining conditions that exist there. These will collect any microorganisms “This really is the first Goldilocks planet,” said * The bullfrog is the only animal that never out of the atmosphere before being sealed and co-discoverer R. Paul Butler of the Carnegie sleeps. returned back to Earth to be analysed. Institution of Washington. The new planet, At that altitude, air pressure is a found in the middle of the Golidlocks zone, and * Baby pigs can be housebroken in as little as 3 hundredth of that found on the ground and there in our galactic neighborhood, gives hope of days.