Google Takes Initiative to Find Extraterrestrials by 2012

MIT's teaming up with Google to design the first satellite that can really, truly search the sky for planets similar to Earth in size and terrain, taking us a giant step closer to making contact with extraterrestrials. Google is funding the development of a six high-res, wide-field digital cameras with a 192-megapixel resolution for TESS—the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite. That's enough resolution to gauge the brightness of two million stars. MIT scientists are currently hard at work with the design of TESS' observatory.

Up until now, the only planets outside of our solar system that we've successfully detected are way bigger than earth. This is because most satellites detect planets by observing the pull their gravity exerts on the stars they orbit, so it's easier to find large planets orbiting close to their stars. TESS does things a little bit differently: it'll search for planets by measuring the amount of starlight it obscures, allowing astronomers to see a lot more planets of different calibers all at once. Examining the spectrum of a planet's star as it passes through its planet's atmosphere also lets researchers gauge the planet's size, temperature, and atmospheric chemistry much more accurately.

If all goes as planned, TESS could launch in 2012, and we could be making friends with aliens by 2013. Image by Tess Team

MIT aims to search for Earth-like planets with Google's help [MIT News]

8:20 AM on Fri Mar 21 2008
By LISA KATAYAMA
1,996 views
13 comments

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MaxTwice at 08:49 AM on 03/21/08
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Google conducts torture upon its customers
MaxTwice at 08:50 AM on 03/21/08
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stat.
deckard97 at 09:26 AM on 03/21/08
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"...activate long range sensors..."
"it's an M class planet sir. 22.56 light years from here"
Gann at 09:29 AM on 03/21/08
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I guess they have become bored with earth and have decided to move on.
desiredusername at 09:32 AM on 03/21/08
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TESS could launch in 2012, and we could be making friends with aliens by 2013.

Assuming we break the speed of light barrier in 2011.
wilmawonker at 09:41 AM on 03/21/08
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according to the Mayans, the world ends in 2012, so if Google can move it up just a hair, that'd be rad. According to the straight-to-video '2012 Doomsday' movie that just came out, there will be polar shifts and cataclysms of Christian proportions, and according to '2012', which comes out in 2009, and was written by Roland Emmerich (10,000 B.C., The Day After Tomorrow), all sorts of natural disasters will ensue. So yeah, get that thing launched in 2011.

2012 Doomsday - [www.imdb.com]
2012 - [www.imdb.com]
Scotus at 09:43 AM on 03/21/08
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Ten bucks says that if Google or any other corporation finds an unpopulated Earth-like planet out there, they'll immediately claim ownership.

If they find a populated Earth-like planet, they'll still claim ownership, but will have to be sneakier about it.
gfburke at 09:47 AM on 03/21/08
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So a set of Google datacenters become self aware, call themselves, oh, I dunno, Wintermute, and find another entity like themselves orbiting a nearby star?
ineffable.me at 09:52 AM on 03/21/08
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Connectedness Index: 910

cant wait to see the google map on these ones!
Jeff-Minor at 11:20 AM on 03/21/08
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I'm all for seeing the pretty pictures of planets in other systems. Good to see google money going for this sort of science.
MaxTwice at 12:52 PM on 03/21/08
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Good to see Google money going, period
etwarrior at 12:57 PM on 03/22/08
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You'd think a place like MIT might at least be aware of other major NASA missions that are going to do exactly this, and will be launching in less than two years. [kepler.nasa.gov]
icelight at 02:41 PM on 03/23/08
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@etwarrior: That was exactly my thought. At a guess, because Kepler has a fairly narrow viewing angle, they may be trying to do the same thing for cheaper, and then point it in other directions for the sake of redundancy.