NASA’S top chief has weighed in on one of humanity’s biggest mysteries – are we alone in the universe?
The US space agency’s administrator Jared Isaacman has revealed he believes the chances aliens are out there somewhere are “pretty high” in a shock interview.
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Nasa administrator Jared Isaacman has shared his thoughts on the possibility of aliensCredit: AFP
It comes as the Artemis II mission made history by flying round the far side of the moonCredit: NASA
Isaacman said that we’ll soon “incorporate telescopes that will help us continue this great search” during an interview about the huge Artemis II Moon voyage.
Four astronauts successfully looped around the Moon on Monday, the first manned mission since Apollo ended in 1972.
While they didn’t walk on the lunar surface they did break the record for farthest any human has been from Earth.
And during a tense 40 minute period the crew – Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen – lost signal as their Orion capsule went to the far side of the Moon where radio and laser beams can’t currently reach.
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Isaacman, who has only been Nasa’s administrator since December, has been to space twice himself in 2021 and 2024.
Despite sharing his surprising prediction, the commercial astronaut was quick to say he hasn’t actually seen any aliens.
“I’ve been to space twice, I didn’t encounter any aliens up there yet,” he told CNN.
“I have not seen anything to suggest that we’ve been visited by any intelligent life forms out there.
“But when you think about it – we got 2 trillion galaxies out there, who knows how many star systems within each of it.
“I would say the odds that we will find something at some point to suggest that we are not alone are pretty high.”
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His comments come as the topic of aliens shifts from science fiction to serious discussion at the top of Government.
The 44th US President Barack Obama revealed in February that “they’re real, but I haven’t seen them”.
In a tell-all podcast appearance with YouTuber Brian Tyler Cowen he said: “They’re not being kept in Area 51, there’s no underground facility.
“Unless there’s this enormous conspiracy and they hid it from the president of the United States.”
The closest we’ve got to proving aliens are real is by looking for possible signs of past life on Mars.
Mineral indicators, ancient craters where water once thrived and methane spikes are all key clues that point towards life being possible on the Red Planet long ago – but nothing conclusive yet.
Nasa hopes the Artemis programme will lead to a permanent base being built on the Moon, which will act as a springboard to exploring even further into our solar system.
The last big moment for Artemis II is for the capsule to splash back to Earth safely, which is due to happen on Friday.
Discussions around aliens are shifting from science fiction to serious discussionCredit: Getty