NASA boss says there are a trillion Earth-like planets

 

NASA scientists reckon there are at least a trillion planets just like the Earth out there to be discovered, according to agency boss Bill Nelson.

Speaking at an official briefing about NASA’s involvement in the study of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAPs), Mr Nelson says one of the agency’s core missions is to search for extraterrestrial life.

He says while there is no conclusive evidence that UAPs – what we used to call UFOs – are extraterrestrial in origin, the inquiry goes on, using both human observation and AI analysis.

He says somewhere out in the galaxy, there will be a planet with the same basic size and composition of the Earth, orbiting a star not unlike our sun at a distance that allows for life as we know it. NASA’s Nicola Fox called it “Earth 2.0”.

Nelson says NASA research based on findings from the James Webb space telescope suggests that there are at least a trillion Earth-like planets.

“In a universe that is so vast - of course, I believe there is a replication of Earth somewhere out there,” Mr Nelson said.

Astrophysicist Frank Drake developed an equation in the 1960s that was intended to estimate the number of advanced civilisations likely to exist in the Milky Way.

NASA’s new estimate puts at least one number in for mathematicians to help solve that equation.      BY K24 NEWS