An artist's illustration of an Earth-like planet. The search for planets that are similar to Earth is one of NASA's main goals. Many planets have already been discovered orbiting other stars, but so far only larger planets (the size of Jupiter or larger) have been found. New missions are being planned by NASA which will be able to detect smaller Earth-sized planets. Some of these missions will also try to detect signs of life on these planets by studying emissions in their atmospheres.
BILLIONS OF EARTHS COULD BE OUT THERE!!

2/8/10

Earth's "Bigger Cousin" Detected

SOURCE: Space.com
13 June, 2005

The discovery of the smallest extrasolar planet (about seven-and-a-half times the mass of Earth) was announced today. An artist's conception of this world is pictured above. It’s the first rocky world found to be orbiting a star similar to our sun, and as such "it's like Earth's bigger cousin," declared astronomer Paul Butler.
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