Coincidentally coming right on the heals of Earth Day, a team of European Astronomers announced the discovery of a new exoplanet that is the closest to Earth-like parameters. It's only 5 times as massive as Earth, unlike all other exoplanets discovered to date which are much more massive (not because all planets are necessarily more massive, but because the method of detecting them discovers massive planets more easily), and likely only 50% larger. It's 15 times closer to its sun, but its sun is a red dwarf, producing much less energy than our own. The astronomers believe that Gliese 581c could well be within the so-called habitable range, where planets are most likely to have liquid water. And it's only 20.5 light years away!!!
Here is the link : http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070425/ap_on_sc/habitable_planet There's 3 ways this can turn out : 1)It's uninhabited in which case I call first dibs on some oceanfront property 2)It's inhabited by primitive life, in which case we should bring brushes and mirrors so we can trade for their resources like we did with Native Americans. 3)It's inhabited by advanced life in which case I can't wait for the interplanetary World Cup. I hope they have decent right mids that can cross that would come on a free transfer.
Space week kicks off on May 6/5 Sunday on The Science Channel. I bet this makes for a presentation...
Sure, just condemn it to the doom of false expectations from the get-go, without even giving it the slightest chance that it might truly be within the parameters most likely to support life.
What are we waiting for? If we start now, we can be there in... (carry the one...) about 300,000 years!
I would want to have some idea of their interstellar military capabilities before we initiate hostilities.