We’re going on a mission to Kepler 186f. The last crew we sent there never returned, of course…
Those science boffins at NASA have announced that they’ve found a planet that could be similar to Earth as a result of their Kepler planet finding mission, which sits in the “Goldilocks zone” of its star, which means that it could theoretically support life.
Elisa V. Quintana of NASA’s Research Center in California said that it could be the “first, validated, Earth-size planet in the habitable zone of another star” and that it has properties similar to Earth, including the possibility of liquid water on the surface, as well as not being too much larger, with a diameter just 10% bigger than that of our own home planet.
Now, here comes the bit that might be a bit of a problem, and that’s where it’s located. It’s a hop, skip and a jump of 500 light-years down the road, so if you do think you might want to up sticks to check it out, we reckon you’re going to need more than a carry on bag.
According to The New York Times, there are also a few other slight issues, as outlined by another member of the research team, Dr. Thomas S. Barclay. Although the gravity is likely to be the same and it is possibly made of the same materials as Earth, the levels of those materials are likely to be vastly different. It’s orbit is also much shorter than ours, at just 130 days (that means less holiday days from work, we reckon) and the star that it orbits is slightly cooler and smaller than the sun, meaning that more of the surface is likely to freeze.
Still, we’re sure there’s a mission in there somewhere for the right crew, who don’t mind being killed in mysterious circumstances. We’d go ourselves, but we are already in our pajamas.
Here’s a very scientific explanation of what starting a new world would be like, by one Dr. Karltavious Q. Pilkington, who is our favourite scientist. Deep stuff.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsWK0tkPeiY
Hat-tip The NY Times
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