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‘Looking for a smoking gun’: Russian billionaire to fund alien-hunting mission to Saturn moon | ‘Looking for a smoking gun’: Russian billionaire to fund alien-hunting mission to Saturn moon |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Russian tech billionaire-turned-ET explorer Yuri Milner says he plans to beat NASA to a mission to the Saturn moon Enceladus in search of alien lifeforms. | Russian tech billionaire-turned-ET explorer Yuri Milner says he plans to beat NASA to a mission to the Saturn moon Enceladus in search of alien lifeforms. |
“The one overarching question we are asking at our foundation is: ‘Are we alone in the universe?’” said Milner, who has pledged over $200 million to the Breakthrough Initiative, an organization he founded in 2015 that observes space, and develops new means of cosmic travel. | “The one overarching question we are asking at our foundation is: ‘Are we alone in the universe?’” said Milner, who has pledged over $200 million to the Breakthrough Initiative, an organization he founded in 2015 that observes space, and develops new means of cosmic travel. |
Speaking at a Seattle conference, ‘A New Space Age', Milner said his science team believes there are three potential locations for extra-terrestrial lifeforms in our solar system: under the surface of Mars, Jupiter’s moon Europa, and “the most promising candidate,” Enceladus. | Speaking at a Seattle conference, ‘A New Space Age', Milner said his science team believes there are three potential locations for extra-terrestrial lifeforms in our solar system: under the surface of Mars, Jupiter’s moon Europa, and “the most promising candidate,” Enceladus. |
Located 1.27 billion miles away from Earth, Enceladus has a surface temperature below -200 Celsius, but is thought to harbor a giant hot sub-surface ocean that shoots up plumes of material hundreds of miles up. | Located 1.27 billion miles away from Earth, Enceladus has a surface temperature below -200 Celsius, but is thought to harbor a giant hot sub-surface ocean that shoots up plumes of material hundreds of miles up. |
READ MORE: What’s bubbling beneath surface of Saturn moon’s giant ocean? | READ MORE: What’s bubbling beneath surface of Saturn moon’s giant ocean? |
“We formed a little workshop around this idea: Can we design a low-cost, privately funded mission to Enceladus which can be launched relatively soon, and that can look more thoroughly at those plumes, try to see what’s going on there?” Milner outlined. | “We formed a little workshop around this idea: Can we design a low-cost, privately funded mission to Enceladus which can be launched relatively soon, and that can look more thoroughly at those plumes, try to see what’s going on there?” Milner outlined. |
He said the chemical makeup of the water vapor, ejected out of geysers on the surface, could provide a “a smoking gun for life below the surface.” He tempered expectations, though, by saying he expects to find “not intelligent life, maybe microbial life, or something more serious.” | |
Much of the knowledge about the 500-km diameter Enceladus comes from the recently-ended NASA Cassini mission, which provided highly-detailed photographs of the moon during its fly-bys. | Much of the knowledge about the 500-km diameter Enceladus comes from the recently-ended NASA Cassini mission, which provided highly-detailed photographs of the moon during its fly-bys. |
But Milner, whose net worth is estimated at $3.5 billion, said he plans to send his probe – whose exact form and route have not yet been established – “ahead of a more expensive mission from NASA that might take ten years to launch.” | But Milner, whose net worth is estimated at $3.5 billion, said he plans to send his probe – whose exact form and route have not yet been established – “ahead of a more expensive mission from NASA that might take ten years to launch.” |
The billionaire, who trained as a physicist in Soviet Russia, and currently splits his time between California and Moscow, said that if successful, the expedition would become “the first-ever privately-funded interplanetary science mission.” | The billionaire, who trained as a physicist in Soviet Russia, and currently splits his time between California and Moscow, said that if successful, the expedition would become “the first-ever privately-funded interplanetary science mission.” |
Fellow billionaire Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are also developing their own space ventures, though both have been more concerned with orbital and Mars travel. | Fellow billionaire Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are also developing their own space ventures, though both have been more concerned with orbital and Mars travel. |