Daily Archives: February 26, 2017

This editorial was first published in The Providence (Rhode Island) Journal, a fellow GateHouse Media publication. Guest editorials don't necessarily reflect the Daily Messenger's opinions.

Humans once thought they were alone in the universe (with gods watching over them). The gradual discovery of new planets in our solar system, and thousands beyond, has proved that our world is only one of many.

In fact, NASA announced an astonishing discovery at a news conference last week that has helped intensify our world's interest in space travel, exploration, habitation and the possibility of life on other planets.

The story began last May, when researchers in Chile using the Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope, or Trappist, discovered three new planets. They named the new exoplanet system Trappist-1 (for obvious reasons), and began to use the powerful Spitzer Space Telescope to confirm their findings.

According to NASA's Feb. 22 news release, the "Spitzer, an infrared telescope that trails Earth as it orbits the sun," was a good device to examine these new planets "because the star glows brightest in infrared light, whose wavelengths are longer than the eye can see." Trappist-1 was observed "nearly continuously for 500 hours" and the Spitzer was "uniquely positioned in its orbit to observe enough crossing transits of the planets in front of the host star to reveal the complex architecture of the system."

What the research team found was remarkable.

Two of the original planets were eventually identified along with, much to their surprise, five other planets, including three in the so-called habitable zone where life might exist. All of them were similar in size to Earth, and orbit around a single star described as an "ultra-cool dwarf."

"The discovery sets a new record," according to NASA, "for greatest number of habitable-zone planets found around a single star outside our solar system."

But there's more to this story, which has been simultaneously published in the pre-eminent scientific journal Nature.

All seven planets located in Trappist-1 are reportedly rocky like Earth, and not made of gas. Hence, they could all potentially contain liquid water which is, of course, one of the keys to life. (The three planets located squarely in the habitable zone have the greatest potential for having water.)

It should be mentioned that this exoplanet system is well outside our solar system. Scientists have estimated the planets are 39 light years, or roughly 235 trillion miles, away from Earth.

Until our technology is much more advanced, we won't be visiting them anytime soon.

Yet, with the James Webb Space Telescope, a far more powerful scientific tool than the Hubble Space Telescope, about to go into space in 2018, we can already start learning about Trappist-1.

Sean Carey, manager of NASA's Spitzer Science Center at Caltech/IPAC in Pasadena, California, said this is "the most exciting result I have seen in the 14 years of Spitzer operations." In his view, "Spitzer will follow up in the fall to further refine our understanding of these planets so that the James Webb Space Telescope can follow up. More observations of the system are sure to reveal more secrets."

This could potentially mean that human beings could visit, or live on, other habitable planets one day. It's also possible, however strange it may sound to some ears, that we could find evidence of microbic or primitive life forms in Trappist-1 and beyond.

It's important that President Donald Trump who has previously mentioned his support for further space exploration work with Congress to ensure that funding for NASA is maintained. Humans have a great interest in unlocking the mysteries of the universe, and looking for ways to explore planets that are currently beyond our reach.

Visit link:

Guest view: Aliens in Earth's neighborhood? - Irondequoit Post

NASA

A NASA statement that says that it's examining the prospects of flying a crew on the first Space Launch System launch, is not only nave, but counterproductive.

Space exploration is not a human game, not if what we want to glean is our chances of actually getting off our planet and inhabiting another world.

There's very little chance that this writer's generation will see little more than the beginning of a manned Mars mission project. Humans heading to the Jovian or Saturnalian moons is a few generations away, at the least.

What we need is to revisit is the Von Neumann probe model that will not only allow us to expand our scientific knowledge of the moons and the speculated oceans beneath the layers of vacuum- and radiation-hardened ice, but also allow the foundation of future human biomes to be laid.

Humans are a slow, ponderous species. We're not Stephen Baxter's Xelee, nor even are we Dan Simmons' Ousters, we're us...bureaucratic, fragile, and somehow scared shitless (SpaceX notwithstanding).

Neumann probes can use resources found on the moons to replicate, and then not only explore the moons, but seek out and analyse any life forms they might find.

The second wave of far more advanced Neumann probes could also begin to build biomes, and begin a primitive sort of terraforming on Europa and Enceladus, for instance (maybe by melting the ice to sow the seeds of a primordial atmosphere).

These probes could lay the groundwork for a manned mission later in the century, or early in the 22nd. To think man, with his feeble flesh and bone is suited to intersolar, or even interstellar exploration is laughable and myopic.

The hard vacuum of space is no country for old men (and trust me, the human species is exactly that). What we need are machines at the vanguard. Glory lies in the end, not the means.

NASA, Elon Musk, et al, should be looking at boosting AI to the extent that Neumann probes have the wherewithal to not only traverse the distance between Earth and the ice moons, but while there, actually lay the foundations for a human settlement.

Trappist-1 is all well and good, but let's face it, we ain't gonna get there till the human race has transformed into something quite unique and different from what we are now...a sort of proto human; half AI-half sentient.

What we need now is pragmatism, not species-specific jingoism. NASA needs to play the long game...the game that is played for millennia, not decades!

See the rest here:

NASA's focus on using humans in space exploration is myopic at best, apocalyptic at worst! - International Business Times, India Edition

According to NASA, humanity has seven new possibly livable planets to dream about inhabiting.

Before you get your bag ready for an Interstellar-like journey, the Editorial Board has something for you to consider. The space travel excitement is a little premature. Our current planet has larger problems to handle before we make plans to inhabit other worlds. Namely, we need to invest in curbing climate change to sustain life on Earth.

First of all, NASA believes the system of planets may orbit a dwarf star that is 40 light years away. Because we cannot travel anywhere near the speed of light yet, thats a little far-fetched for the Editorial Board.

Forty light years roughly translates to 235 trillion miles, which would take us just over 11 thousand years to traverse with current technology.

Furthermore, NASA seems more focused on finding alien life than finding humans a new planet to inhabit.

Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASAs Science Mission Directorate, said that Answering the question are we alone? is a top science priority shortly after the exoplanets were found.

This discovery reminds us on Earth that we are likely not alone or special.

While this is all exciting, its kind of hard to be completely excited when you think about the state of our own planet.

The Portland Press Herald reported that global warming is linked to the shrinkage of the Colorado River. With rising temperatures, precipitation is happening less and more states are experiencing drought.

Yes, it is important to fund space travel and exploration, but if we dont first take care of the issues at hand, we will really need to leave Earth and find a new home.

Its hard to believe that President Trump is quick to fund and support NASA, which for all he knows could be making up its data, yet he wont do the same for climate change something most respected scientists agree on.

We can applaud Trump for his ideas of expanding NASAs scope. While campaigning last October, Trump said I will free NASA from the restriction of serving primarily as a logistics agency for low earth orbit activity.

With this expansion, he hopes to create more jobs and further space exploration. This is great and all, but we wish he had the same sort of passion for things rooted on Earth.

We want to be a likable species who takes care of its planet so that if aliens ever do make contact with us, they wont want to immediately vaporize us.

In order to do that, we need to be mindful of the well-being of Earth, the well-being of each other, and the well-being of ourselves. Its crunch time on Earth and something needs to be done.

Think about how much you have enjoyed the weather these past few weeks. Warm, sunny and clean air makes us all happier people, but at a cost.

Remember that weve been enjoying this weather in the middle of February. Remember that on Valentines Day, a lot of us didnt need love to warm us up when the weather was already in the 60s.

Instead of looking at these seven planets as a backup plan, we should look at them as a goal in the distant future. We can hope to reach them one day, but we need to focus more on keeping our home planet healthy.

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EDITORIAL: Jumping at space travel - Indiana Daily Student