Imagine if Earths’ oceans were to suddenly rise at exponential rates and all land masses be covered in water, as depicted in the 2009 movie 2012. Where would we go to live the rest of our lives? One option is finding other extra-solar planets that could support life.
Researches from various background at different institutions around the world purpose a mission called Darwin to essentially search for like on other extra-solar planets. As the mission has not been carried out yet, there are not results to report. However, they plan on characterizing terrestrial extrasolar planets in terms of plants similar to earths rocky terrain at mid-inferred wavelengths. Darwin is a five-year mission, purposed in 2009, however this paper does not state a start date. This research will help discover other plants that can possibly host human life which I believe will be helpful if a disaster is to occur on Earth.
Extra-solar planets. Image by ESA/Hubble
So far this is only a purposed mission therefore there have not been any findings or results.
The plan is to carry out Darwin in two phases. The first phase, lasting about two years, will be to search for plants capable of supporting humans through spectral characterization. The second phase, lasting about three years, will be acquiring spectral data of each detected planet. Analytical chemistry techniques will be used to search for gasses such as CO2, H2O, CH4 and O3 and determine if the quantities are similar to those on earth at this moment. If quantities are similar, then this will be a major breakthrough.
Chemical Analysis. Source: Wikimedia Commons
Although there has already been demonstrations of the technology needed for Darwin, the main goal of the mission is to successfully discover a plant that can maintain human life. The researchers hope that Darwin will address the question of “humankind’s origin, and its place in the Universe”.
-Harjot Gill
