Space News

Humans want to know if intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe. Although early hopes were pinned on Venus and Mars, those planets appear to be empty of intelligent life. So we are looking farther afield.

In the near future, with the launch of NASA’s Kepler Mission in 2008, we’ll have the tools to seek evidence of Earth-size planets in the habitable zone of distant stars.

The search for life beyond Earth is the search for a good place to live, a habitable planet, in orbit about a long-lived star where life may arise and evolve. The first place we looked was at stars like our own Sun, a middle-sized, middle-aged star. G-Stars like the Sun are stable for about 10 billion years, which is a good long time for planets to form, and life to evolve

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Future space telescopes may be able to detect an Earth twin. Astronomers have already found evidence of water on an extrasolar planet.

Japan is planning an expansive series of space missions. China and Russia both consider space development vital to their strategic interests.

Space missions to study earth systems are becoming more important, with questions about nuclear proliferation and climate change--among others--being susceptible to observation from space. A planned April 25th launch on a Pegasus rocket aims to send a satellite to observe high atmospheric clouds. AIM--aeronomy of ice in the mesosphere--plans to look at mysterious mesospheric clouds that may be related to earth's climate.

Many space enthusiasts are pinning their hopes on Space Tourism, to stimulate the movement of humans into space. Many wealthy individuals have visited the ISS aboard Russian launch vehicles, and Bill Gates may do the same. Of course, Paul Allen has invested in Burt Rutan's launch company, and Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com is backing his own launch company in west Texas. Several other billionaires are also involved in space enterprises.

Earth governments cannot afford to pay for all the entitlements owed to future generations, much less subsidize human settlements in space. If that is ever to occur, private investment will lead the way, looking to make a profit.