China Unveils Plans To Search for Habitable Planets Beyond Our Solar System

China Unveils Plans, To Search for Habitable Planets, Beyond Our Solar System.

'Newsweek' reports that China has plans to begin hunting for habitable exoplanets to "expand our living spaces" within the cosmos.

The mission would be the first to search for habitable planets beyond our solar system utilizing a space-based telescope.

The Closeby Habitable Exoplanet Survey (CHES) would use a space telescope with a 3.9-foot aperture.

.

In January, China announced an ambitious five-year plan to expand its space program which includes exploring beyond our solar system.

The CHES telescope would be used to explore around 100 stars similar to our own sun at a distance of about 32 light-years.

Ji Jianghui, the principal investigator of the CHES mission, said the project hopes to answer questions about how planets become habitable and whether life exists anywhere else in the universe.

The discovery of the nearby habitable worlds will be a great breakthrough for humankind, and will also help humans visit those Earth twins and expand our living space in the future, Ji Jianghui, professor from the Purple Mountain Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, via 'Newsweek'.

'Newsweek' reports that exoplanet research is rapidly advancing.

Over 5,000 exoplanets have been discovered since the 1990s.

.

In 2017, NASA announced the discovery of the Trappist-1 system, which is home to seven rocky exoplanets similar to Earth.

In 2017, NASA announced the discovery of the Trappist-1 system, which is home to seven rocky exoplanets similar to Earth.

Three of those planets orbit their star in the habitable zone, which means they could potentially host liquid water on the surface