Michelle Marchante/Assistant Opinion Director
When it comes to extraterrestrial life, many would argue it means leaving the factual realm of science and entering the world of sci-fi, but according to NASA’s chief scientist, Ellen Stofan, aliens may soon become our reality.
“I think we’re going to have strong indications of life beyond Earth within a decade, and I think we’re going to have definitive evidence within 20 to 30 years,” Stofan said during a live webcast panel discussion in April 2015.
This statement may stem from the fact that NASA has found more concrete evidence of life, like the finding of water on Mars or the discovery of Kepler-452b, the first almost Earth-sized planet. NASA may be preparing us so that when they do officially state that they’ve found life, we won’t panic.
Though, their search for life may have ended sooner than planned with the latest discovery of KIC 8462852, a distant star that was discovered by astronomer Tabetha Boyajian through Planet Hunters, a citizen science program at Yale University.
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