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Space mission blasts off to seek out alien life

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Published Date: 05 March 2009
THE United States space agency Nasa is to launch a £428 million hunt for faraway worlds that may harbour alien life.
The Kepler telescope, due to blast off from Florida tomorrow, will search for other terrestrial planets where water – and therefore life – could exist.

Bill Borucki, of Nasa, said: "Kepler may help us answer one of the most enduring questions
humans have asked throughout history: are there others like us in the universe?"

The craft, named after 17th-century German scientist Johannes Kepler,

will look at a region of the sky located between two constellations – Cygnus the swan and Lyra – where a total of 3.5 million stars lie. Nasa has selected 100,000 of those stars, programming the telescope to "stare" at them constantly for the duration of the mission to monitor their brightness.

The area is known as the "Goldilocks zone", because conditions there are not too hot, not too cold, but just right for liquid water to exist.

When a planet passes in front of the star, the brightness will dim. By measuring the precise scale and length of the fluctuation, scientists will be able to calculate the planet's size and temperature, and whether it is potentially habitable.





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  • Last Updated: 04 March 2009 9:55 PM
  • Source: The Scotsman
  • Location: Edinburgh
  • Related Topics: Space science
 
1

Conan,

Moffat 05/03/2009 05:48:13
Waste of money ... all they needed to do was send a probe to Easthouses, Mayfield or Dalkieth any night after midnight and they'll find all the single (brain) cell alien life forms they could ever imagine.
2

,

05/03/2009 10:35:23
Comment Removed By Administrator
Reason:
3

zeno,

www.thinkhumanism.com 05/03/2009 10:58:16
POSTMARK..55

What on earth [sic] are you talking about? Why is a map of the Universe garbage, who is spoon-feeding it to us and why?
4

SouthernGent,

05/03/2009 13:45:56
#2

"just like those that believe in religion, of whatever persuasion."

Why is it that your "beliefs" are more correct than others "beliefs", when neither are possible of being proven???

A little hypocritical don't you think?
5

Jay Kay,

05/03/2009 13:46:05
#2 Postmark you are a total t*at. It's idiots like you that think man cant fly, why would you want to fly or wait what is that green slime, how can that cure disease. Go and stick yer head back in the bucket ya t*t. Mankind is an explorer, its his one great strength and the quicker he gets off the confines of this little ball of mud and out into the stars the better. We are running out of resources on this planet, the planets ever increasing population is litterally eating its way through the natural resources of this world, hence we need more if man as a race is ever going to survive then we need to expand our universe and knowledge of it, but hey you stick to your blackboard and chalk mate, i'm sure you like living in the past.

If it were me I would take all monies spent on war and invest them in the exploration of space.

If the Kelper does what it sets out to do and if and when we finally discover that life is abundant out there, it will indeed cause some consternation (granted) with the religeous nutters around the globe, but it will change the way man views the stars and the universe, ok, so there are many theory's but thats what we do, theorise and then go and investigate that theory, some fail but most succeed, no doubt the religeous side is a debate for another day but man needs to expand and learn, to use that knowledge and to reach out not in, f*ckwit!.
6

danbob,

05/03/2009 15:29:21
It's cr*p. If you take the following statement for example.

(quote)The area is known as the "Goldilocks zone", because conditions there are not too hot, not too cold, but just right for liquid water to exist.(unquote)

The problem here is this. We are standing on a planet right now where the conditions for water to exist are perfect. Unfortunatly nobody can explain where the water came from in the first place. This question will not be answered by peering out into space. Science is like a dog chasing it's tail. It will never catch it. Some modern day science fans would do well to read all of Issac Newtons studies and findings.
7

Jay Kay,

05/03/2009 18:25:47
#6 so whats do you prefer we do, beleive in religion? sorry I'm with science all the may mate, I beleive they will unlock all of the unknown elements in the universe. It just needs time and more devotion to duty.

Some of the answers to our questions will come from doing just that. I do not beleive for a moment your going to find the answers unless you try and find them through theory and experiment. Sitting at night holding a candle whilst quoting scripture aint gonna cut it.

Tell me this what is the church and their beloved flock so frightened of? and dont for one moment tell me this is not a bl**dy religious thing you got going here.
Im just waiting for it, lets all beleive in the f*cking bible.

Scientists are attempting to find the truth no matter what that truth is, there are some though who just refuse to beleive. Science is my religion mate.

If you and many like you think that science is a dog chasing its tail then explain why science has answered so many of lifes questions already. the advancements in technology would not have taken place if it was not hand in hand with science.
8

danbob,

05/03/2009 19:12:34
7# The answers to key questions are hidden from the eyes of science. Issac Newton recognised that fact 250 years ago. Most of sciences found knowledge was always there to be found. We just needed to know where to look. However here are just two areas that the boffins will not see.

1) Where did the earths water come from.
2) Where is the engine that starts life.

Without water no weather can exist, therefore no water distribution, therfore no life. Also if science could answer the question of how life sparks into life little Frankinsteins would be roaming the earth within the year. So I dont really care how you view the bible because science has not got the important answers, and never will.

9

Graeme Gibson,

Sydney Australia 05/03/2009 21:25:05
Theres nothing out there to discover til later on.

The whole Universe' focus is on the great spirit war here on earth between God and satan.
Ephesians chapter 6 speaks about spirit powers and authorities in the airways.
Ask the peoples in 3rd world countries.
They know all about evil spirits and demon powers because many fellowship with them.

10

SouthernGent,

05/03/2009 21:53:14
#7
"Scientists are attempting to find the truth no matter what that truth is, there are some though who just refuse to beleive. Science is my religion mate."

Think about that statement.

I am not a believer in organised "religion", but as a proponent of rational debate, how can you discount the possibility that parts of religions may be true? If you truly think about it, there is more "evidence" in favor of a god vs no god. That is not to say there is a god, but if you truly believe in seeking the truth, you can not rule out ANY possibility. To do so would taint your scientific data. For science to be valid, it relies on proof. And that proof does not exist when proving or disproving the presence of a "god".

 

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