Distant Planet Imaging Project Gets More Funding

It doesn't come easy writes "NASA's Institute for Advanced Concepts has chosen a proposal by the University of Colorado (UC) at Boulder to image distant planets around other stars for a second round of funding. Known as the New Worlds Observer, the UC project is for an orbiting, soccer-field sized "starshade" shaped like a daisy that would funnel light from distant planets between its petals to a second spacecraft trailing 50,000 miles behind. If the concept proves feasible, it could 'identify planetary features like oceans, continents, polar caps and cloud banks, and even detect biomarkers like methane, water, oxygen and ozone [...]'"

Comments

Re:How will the religious establishment react?

[smooth wombat]

Considering the religious establishment won't admit that according to the bible we're all the product of incest (Adam and Eve had Cain and Abel. Cain found a woman and had a child. Where did the woman come from unless it was Eve herself? After all, nowhere in the bible does it say God created anyone other than Adam and Eve.) so I'm sure they could come up with some lame excuse as to how life on another planet is still the work of God even though the first two lines of Genesis specifically state it was Earth that was created.

Though I have to admit it will sure be fun to see all the squirming and contorting that will take place from the religious establishment in trying to prove their point.

Re:Sounds cool...

[CyricZ]

Questioning things is an excellent thing to do. I wish that more people did it more often.

However, in this case the questioning was based on a complete lack of understanding. Now, I don't have much of a problem with that. That's fine. It's when people provide stupid alternatives that I take offense.

It was, like it or not, stupid to suggest that the design be scrapped and replaced with a large garage funnel.