The Search For Extraterrestrial Life

By jackwaugh
  • 100 BCE

    Lucretius

    This Greek philosopher believed we could not possibly be the only life forms in a universe so vast.
  • Mar 7, 1200

    Teng Mu

    This Chinese philosopher found it implausible there weren't other earths and other heavens.

  • Giordano Bruno

    This Italian monk was burned at the stake for his heliocentric theory, which was based on Nicolaus Copernicus' original model.

  • Galileo Galilei

    This Italian scientist stuck with the heliocentric model at the risk of his own livelihood. He made many important discoveries about the solar system.

  • Enrico Fermi

    Fermi's question of "Where are they?" still shapes the debate of projects searching for intelligent life in the universe.

  • Frank Drake

    The astronomer developed a a formula to calculate the the potential number of radio-transmitting civilizations in our galaxy. He also started Project Ozma, a systematic attempt of encountering alien radio signals.

  • The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI)

    Scientists form the SETI Institute to spearhead the search for alien lifeforms.

  • Dr. Everett Gibson

    Gibson claimed he and his team of NASA scientists found evidence of life inside a Martian meteorite, igniting one of the most famous scientific controversies in recent history.

  • Gravitational Lensing

    Australian astronomers claim to have found an object heavier than Earth using a new method, gravitational lensing. The object was maybe an extrasolar planet.

  • Huygen's probe

    The European probe was sent to Titan, a moon of Saturn, to search for signs of life in it's atmosphere.

  • Kepler Spacecraft

    NASA launched the planet hunter to reveal Earth-like planets orbiting suns elsewhere in the universe.

  • Ellen Stofan

    Based on recent discoveries made by the Kepler Spacecraft, Stofan claimed alien life would be discovered within 30 years.

  • Kepler 452b

    This was the closest analogue to Earth discovered so far, with 386 day years and potentially similar surface temperatures.

  • Trappist-1 planets

    Seven planets with temperate Earth-like temperatures and of similar size have recently been found around the dwarf-star Trappist-1. These planets have been rumored to possess rocky surfaces and maybe even atmospheres.