NASA discovers habitable planet only zero lightyears from ea

NASA discovers habitable planet only zero lightyears from earth

Washington DC (dpo) - NASA scientists made an astonishing discovery with the space telescope Hubble. At the edge of the milky way and only zero lightyears from earth, they spotted a previously completely unknown planet. Everything indicates that GJ 7662 3S, how the researchers call it, is habitable. And yet the planet was only discovered accidentally: "Actually, we turned the Hubble telescope just for fun into the exact opposite direction and that's how we found GJ 7662 3S", NASA staff member Dr. Sam Fidgens explains to the Postillon. "It was so close we had to take out nearly all the zoom. Just incredible that we astronomers missed out on this blue planet for so long."

The scientists call GJ 7662 3S the "blue planet" because of its blueish shade, which according to first findings is one of many hints towards a possible habitability. "We suspect that GJ 7662 3S bears not only water but also oxygen - even though it's possible that these two essential requirements of life are interspersed with all imaginable toxic substances", Fidgens says. Just as well, the temperatures between −89,6 °C and +58 °C supposed by the telescope's infrared sensors suggest that this planet would offer humans bearable living conditions, if barely.

But it gets even better: The scientists suspect there could even exist life on GJ 7662 3S. First shots suggest lush vegetation at least in some regions. Since it is widely on its retreat though, it seems more than doubtful that mankind could settle GJ 7662 3S if they have destroyed earth one day.

To get more information about the situation on the newly discovered planet NASA wants to send a space probe there in the first instance. A crewed space mission to GJ 7662 3S is within the realm of possibility, too. After all the planet be so close such a mission was a "short hop" compared to a moonshot. The question if GJ 7662 3S could bear intelligent life forms is replied to with a clear "no" by the NASA specialists. Were there creatures of higher intelligence on the blue planets they certainly would have contacted zero lightyears distant mankind long ago.