The time of discovery of a habitable planet by a NASA telescope to search for aliens has been announced

«This could lead to a revolution in life, religion, philosophy and science»

NASA's alien-hunting telescope could discover a habitable planet by 2050, a scientist claims. NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has only been in operation for just under two years, but scientists are already eyeing their next alien-hunting device. Now an astrophysicist working with the US space agency to find Earth-like exoplanets says NASA's planned new Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) telescope could find evidence of alien life «within our lifetime.»

Three NASA contracts totaling $17.5 million will go into effect this summer, under which HWO will develop the next generation of hardware and code needed to obtain data on nearby exoplanets with new details, writes the Daily Mail.

But 15 years before HWO goes online, the telescope will likely face plenty of competition, such as those who claim alien life has already been discovered on exoplanet K2-18b.

As scientists debate the James Webb Telescope data on K2-18b, including a new study in the Astrophysical Journal Letters suggesting that any putative "biosignals" extraterrestrial planets have been exaggerated, NASA's network continues to strategize how HWO can best provide definitive proof of the existence of extraterrestrial life.

The space agency's team of astronomers, physicists, engineers and exoplanet scientists met last January in New Orleans to discuss the instruments needed for this work.

Berkeley astronomer Dr. Courtney Dressing, one of the leaders of HWO's Science Architecture Review Team (START), proposed equipping HWO with the ability to detect «a wide range of biosignals.»

"So-called biogenic gases produced by living organisms; aerosols and other airborne pollutants; «surface biosignals» such as infrared radiation produced by vegetation, and more artificial «technosignals» that would have been created by a civilized alien race, – all this can be detected using HWO", – says Dr. Dressing.

But to do better than, say, James Webb's analysis of K2-18b, HWO architects will need to develop even more testable signs of life.

"Additional information about the planet and planetary system, – emphasizes Dr. Dressing, – will be required to interpret biosignals and exclude false positive results.»

However, one astrophysicist who is chief scientist at NASA's Exoplanet Science Institute at Caltech, Dr. Jesse Christiansen, believes that HWO could find evidence of extraterrestrial life soon after launch in 2040.

" ;I believe that in our lifetime, someone like us will see a signal in the atmosphere of a rocky planet in the habitable zone of a star like our Sun, which we consider to be life. Christiansen told New Scientist. “Most of my work is related to this,” – she told Pasadena Weekly last month.

"We are asking scientific questions that we would like to answer with this telescope, – explained Dr. Christiansen. – We use this to determine what size telescope we need to explore what part of space and for how long? We take it to NASA and say, «Hey, build it.»

Collecting electromagnetic spectra beyond the visible light spectrum, such as infrared and ultraviolet light and even X-rays, is one of the methods used by astronomers to get a better understanding of what is happening in the Universe.

For example, a space telescope Hubble, which focused on visual illumination, picked up many more of the older, redder stars in the galaxy and younger, bluer stars, writes the Daily Mail.

But the infrared sensors of the new James Webb spacecraft performed better at photographing accumulations of gas and dust floating freely along the spiral arms of the galaxy, as well as at photographing the dense galactic core of star systems.

"We were able to observe stars with such precision and with the help of such advanced instruments that we can see the planets around them, – noted Dr. Christiansen. – We now know that there are thousands of planets, and most stars have planets.»

But despite more than 5,000 new exoplanets and dozens of Earth-like candidates having been reported, she added: «We still haven't found an Earth-like planet, a rocky planet in the habitable zone of a Sun-like star.»

Defense contractors Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin and Ball Aerospace (BAE Systems) will begin their portion of the HWO work this summer, NASA says.

The companies' $17.5 million, two-year effort will include creating "ultra-sustainable" optical sensor systems that NASA hopes will «superior current technology» to help keep its HWO project in orbit for as long as possible.

Northrop Grumman's contribution to this effort will be a protective support for the telescope's optical system, which they hope will make HWO resilient to unexpected events in the harsh environment of space.

However, this year's expenses – nothing compared to the total $11 billion that NASA hopes the US government will provide for its HWO telescope.

By the end of its official mission, which will aim to directly image at least 25 major candidates for potentially habitable worlds, Dr. Christiansen wonders whether humanity will ever be the same. “This could lead to a revolution in life, religion, philosophy and science,” – she said, although the astrophysicist admitted the public's reaction might surprise her.

"This could be the headline for the day, – she admitted, – and then everyone just goes back to their business.»