Ambitious Extraterrestrial Quest
NASA has announced the creation of a groundbreaking ‘alien-hunting’ telescope, poised to revolutionize the search for extraterrestrial life. The Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) is set to launch around 2040, with the ambitious goal of discovering at least one inhabited planet by 2050.
Searching for biosignatures
The HWO aims to detect a “wide variety of biosignatures” emitted by living organisms. NASA chief scientist Dr. Jessie Christiansen expressed confidence in the mission’s potential, stating, “HWO will find a signal in the atmosphere of a planet in the habitable zone of a star like our sun within our lifetime.”
Potential candidates identified
Scientists working on the project have identified nearly 25 Earth-like planets near sun-like stars as potential candidates. The HWO’s telescope, dubbed a “Super Hubble,” will directly image Earth-sized planets orbiting other stars.
The observatory will feature a mirror similar to the James Webb Space Telescope and ultra-precise optics designed to scrutinize the atmospheres of these planets for signs of life. The exoplanet team, comprising astronomers, physicists, engineers, and scientists, convened in New Orleans last January to discuss the necessary tools for the mission.
Berkeley astronomer Dr. Courtney Dressing, co-leader of HWO’s Science Architecture Review Team (START), proposed equipping the HWO to detect a “wide variety of biosignatures.” Dr. Dressing explained that biogenic gases, surface biosignatures, aerosols, airborne pollutants, and artificial technosignatures “could be detectable with HWO.”
Dr. Dressing emphasized the need for comprehensive information about the planet and its planetary system to accurately interpret biosignatures and rule out false positives.
Optimistic outlook
Dr. Jessie Christiansen from NASA’s Exoplanet Science Institute at CalTech shared an optimistic outlook, suggesting that the HWO could provide proof of extraterrestrial life soon after its launch in 2040. “I believe, in our lifetime, something like HWO will see a signal in the atmosphere of a rocky planet in the habitable zone of a star like our sun that we think is life,” Christiansen told the New Scientist.