Title: Finding Life on Other Worlds - Science in the News
Headings: Finding Life on Other Worlds
Finding Life on Other Worlds
Finding the Pieces of the Puzzle
Looking in the Neighborhood
Current and Future Missions
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Content: This image was acquired by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft on Nov. 27, 2005. Finding the Pieces of the Puzzle
Looking for life on other planets is difficult because we’re not certain what to look for. All known life on Earth is water-based, composed of molecules predominantly containing carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. It is reasonable to assume that conditions similar to those found on Earth would likely lead to life developing with similar characteristics. However, even with the same basic ingredients, our world could have turned our quite differently. For example, scientists have generated two new DNA bases that could have evolved alongside the four found in Earth’s organisms. The possible forms of life that could develop from these same starting blocks are hard to fathom. To simplify the search for extraterrestrial life, the main compound of interest has been liquid water, given how vital is was for the development of life on Earth. In our own solar system, both planets and their moons have been investigated using spacecraft that either study from afar or land directly on the surface. Outside the solar system, the Kepler telescope looks for evidence of other planets by searching for dimming stars as planets pass in front of them.