IS THERE LIFE OUT THERE

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IS THERE LIFE OUT THERE ?
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Yuri GagarinFirst Man in SpaceApril 1961
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• 1a) What is the furthest place from the Earth
  that humans have visited ?
• The Moon (-only 12 American men have stood on its
  surface)
• b) When was the last human there ?
• 1972
• c) Which is the only other planet in our Solar
  System where Humans could possibly survive ?
• Mars (-though they would have to take all their
  own oxygen, water and food to begin with)

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• 2a) Why have the Americans and Russians
  concentrated on sending robot probes to other
  planets instead of humans ?
• The distances involved make it too dangerous and
  too expensive to send humans
• b) What is the only large (planet-sized) object
  in our Solar System which has NOT been visited by
  a robot probe ?
• Pluto

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• 3a) If there IS life on planets going around
  other stars, what is that life most likely to be
  ?
• Very simple single celled, bacteria etc.
• b) How are robot probes currently on Mars testing
  for life ?
• Adding soil samples to nutrients to see if there
  is a reaction
• c) Why is it difficult to know if these results
  are reliable ?
• Could be a chemical reaction or the life could
  have been carried there on the probe

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• 4a) What did scientists used to say a planet
  needed to have for there to be life on it ?
• Water, light, an atmosphere, food sources
• b) Why have their ideas changed about what is
  needed ?
• The discovery of life forms on Earth which live
  in extreme conditions very hot, acid, no light,
  even using solid rock as their food source!
• This suggests there is a greater chance of life
  on other planets than we thought

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• 5a) Apart from sending robots(or even humans) out
  into space to gather information, how else do we
  gather information from space ?
• Using telescopes
• b) The Hubble Space telescope is in orbit around
  the Earth
• What is the main advantage of having a telescope
  in space ?
• Its images are not distorted by the atmosphere
• ii) What is the main disadvantage ?
• Difficult and expensive to maintain
• c) Which element will future telescopes try to
  detect in the atmosphere of other planets which
  would indicate the presence of life ?
• Oxygen it is so reactive that if lifeforms do
  not continually release it, it would be removed
  from the atmosphere by natural chemical
  reactions.

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• 6a) What have we been monitoring for the last 50
  years to try and detect the presence of
  INTELLIGENT life in the Universe ?
• Radio signals from space
• b) What is the project called ?
• SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence)
• c) How successful has it been ?
• Nothing detected so far
• d) What are we to make from this ?
• There are NO intelligent life forms out there OR
• They are too far away for us to have received
  their signals yet OR
• They do not use radio waves they are more
  advanced than us or less advanced than us.

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INCIDENTALLY

• Humans have been releasing radio waves into
  space ourselves since the 1920s and TV signals
  since the 1930s so any intelligent life-forms
  within 80-90 light years from us has had a chance
  to pick up our signals !
• What will they think of us based on our TV and
  radio shows ???
• Will they come visiting ?
• After nearly 40 years the race is on to start
  sending humans out into space again, with
  America, Russia, China, Japan and Europe all
  involved
• Could you be Britains next astronaut ?
• Britains next hero !