NASA’s 411 on Extraterrestrial Life

Life of extraterrestrial origin is out there. This is the word from NASA. (Yes, really.) The agency has predicted that we’ll see “indications” of life outside of Earth within 10 years….and have evidence of it by 2045.

We suspect that this announcement is a much bigger deal than NASA is letting on. It feels like we are being prepared for something, doesn’t it? Although NASA is referring to microbial life (not big-headed little creatures with huge eyes and spindly limbs), consider the fact that this is not the first time NASA has made this claim. Also consider the fact that when it comes to the question ‘Are we alone?’ the U.S. government tends to flip out — making blanket denials and sputtering contradictory nonsense like a Lothario caught in the act. The way we see it, for a government agency to state not once, but twice, that we should expect to meet life from outside this planet within a specific time frame….that’s HUGE. Bottom line: NASA is most likely already aware of the existence of life originating outside of Earth (microbial or otherwise).

But time, as they say, will tell.

PS — Did you know there are Ocean Worlds all over our solar system?

A Heavenly Menage à Trois

Jupiter and its moon Io

A couple of weeks ago, Jupiter had a lovely menage à trois: a spectacular triple eclipse. Three of its big moons — Europa, Callisto, and Io (shown above) — passed in front of the huge planet at the same time….and like dedicated voyeurs do, the Hubble Telescope got it all on camera. Gas giant Jupiter has 62 moons, so eclipses aren’t exactly a special occasion, but having three of its four superstar moons show up at the same time IS a special occasion. Only Ganymede (my personal fave) couldn’t stay for the fun. Imagine: if you had been standing on Jupiter, you would’ve peeped three solar eclipses at once. Side note: the moon Europa is kind of a big deal. Astronomers think that there’s life in the incredibly deep oceans under its icy surface….life as we know it, that is.

See it happen! At 00:07 look for the shadows of the 3 moons on Jupiter’s surface.

Truth is Stranger than (Science) Fiction

Earth is about twice as big as Titan (the little one), so imagine how massive Saturn is. Click on the photo to see them in motion.

This très cool, spooky-beautiful video by filmmaker Chris Abbas stars the planet Saturn and its moon Titan. All of these images were taken by NASA’s Cassini satellite while orbiting Saturn in 2007. (The haunting score is by Nine Inch Nails.) Every time I watch this mysterious little clip, I expect to see some alien spacecraft zip into the frame…..

SATURN AS YOU’VE NEVER SEEN IT

By the time the Cassini spacecraft started sending these pictures back, it had been in space over 6 years. Each image took over 48 hours to reach Earth, and check it: what you see was shot more than 2 billion miles from wherever you are right now.

For more on what Cassini is up to: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm