Satellites Now Searching For Alien Life

Last Update: February 10, 2015 at 12:47 pm

Satellites Now Searching For Alien Life

SOURCE: MACH PRINCIPLE

A team of U.K. scientists and engineers plans to launch a small satellite that would study the skies of planets outside our solar system, checking for traces of life and other characteristics.

It’s the “first mission dedicated to analyzing” these atmospheres, said Giovanna Tinetti of University College London, the project’s lead scientist.

Plans call for the mission, a collaboration between the college and Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd., based in Guilford, U.K, to launch within four years. An overview was presented Friday at an open meeting at the U.K.’s Royal Astronomical Society.

“Twinkle is a very ambitious mission,” said Tinetti of the college. “Nearly two thousand exoplanets—planets orbiting stars other than our Sun—have been discovered to date, but we know very little about these alien worlds.”

Scientists can measure their size, weigh them, and measure their distance from the star for an idea of their temperature, she added, getting a rough an idea of their makeup in the process.

“But beyond that, we just don’t know. Twinkle… will give us a completely new picture of what these worlds are really like.”

Full Story:

http://machprinciple.com/satellite-to-check-alien-skies-for-traces-of-life/