SETI public: Is there another Earth out there?

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Is there another Earth out there somewhere?

By Dan Vergano, USA TODAY

Forget the next Star Wars movie. The real space sequel guaranteed to capture public attention, astronomers say, is the discovery of another planet like Earth in our own starry neighborhood — and it is likely to happen within a decade.

That discovery may hold the key to the mystery that long ago captured the minds and imaginations of scientists, philosophers, filmmakers and novelists: Is there life on other planets?
On the heels of discoveries beginning in 1995 of more than 100 planets orbiting nearby stars, a planet, or even planets, twin to our own in size and composition, likely will soon be found, thanks to new telescope designs, say astronomers such as Wesley Traub of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
Within 10 years, an Earth-size planet — the size that scientists consider the most likely to contain oceans and therefore life — is expected to turn up in searches by two scheduled NASA probes. And astronomers hope to be able to detect life — or rule it out — in such places within 20 years.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2003-06-03-planets-cover-usat_x.htm

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