NASA: We'll Find 'Definitive Evidence' Of Alien Life In Next 20 To 30 Years
We're closer than ever to finding out whether we're alone in the universe or not, NASA's top scientist said Tuesday.
The remarks came at a panel at NASA headquarters where scientists were talking about recent discoveries of water around the solar system.
NASA's Chief Scientist Ellen Stofan said scientists will be soon finding the first hints of alien life within the next 10 years.
"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.
Stofan noted that NASA's recent efforts have been focused on finding water in celestial bodies like Mars and Jupiter's moon Europa due to water being an essential building block to life. Scientists had are also excited about the possible discovery of water on Saturn's moon Enceladus.
Still, Stofan said, the aliens we might find probably won't look like what we've come to expect from science fiction.
"We're not talking about little green men, we're more talking about little microbes," Stofan said.
