A few days back, Dr Jim Green, a chief NASA scientist predicted that alien life will be discovered on Mars by 2021. The NASA scientist also added that humans are not ready to accept the reality of extraterrestrial existence. And now, Mike Garrett, a top British scientist who is currently the director of Jodrell Bank Observatory in the UK has also shared similar views and claimed that alien life discovery on Mars will be made in the next five years. Garrett made these remarks at the International Astronautical Congress in Washington DC.
"I wish I could say tomorrow, but that's being just over-optimistic. But I think there's a good chance of discovering life on Mars within the next 5 to 10 to 15 years. I think that really has to be a goal, that would set us on a course to do more interesting things in the area," said Garrett during the speech, Space.com reports.
However, Bill Diamond, president and CEO of the SETI Institute did not predict a timeframe for alien discovery, and he revealed that the discovery will be made within his lifetime.
"I certainly would like to think within my lifetime. Hopefully, that's more years than I think, but I absolutely think within my lifetime. Probably in the month of March, and hopefully the discovery comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb," said Diamond.
NASA, the United States space agency will send its Mars 2020 rover to the Red Planet in next July, and the primary job of this mission is to find the presence of microbial forms of lives living on the surface of earth's cosmic neighbour.
As space agencies are vigorously searching for the signs of extraterrestrial existence, SpaceX founder Elon Musk believes that life in the universe is confined only to the earth. After unveiling his starship dedicated to carrying humans to Mars on September 28, Musk claimed that human beings are the only conscious beings in the universe, and our species should try hard to emerge as a multi-planetary species.
