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The reporters listened to Ellen Stofan with growing excitement. NasaThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration, responsible for the US space programme.'s top scientist had just said something amazing: "I think we're going to have strong indicationsSigns. of life beyond Earth within a decadeTen years.."

That was in 2015 - so if Stofan was right, the discovery of alien life could come very soon.

Yesterday saw the launch of one of the first space missions of 2024. Scientists hope that very soon, the missions could answer the biggest question of all. Are we alone in the universeEverything. Including all of time and space and its contents. ?

Water is essential to life like ours. That makes it central to the search for aliens.

Scientists believe there is water to be found on two of the planet Jupiter's moons. NasaThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration, responsible for the US space programme. plans to launch a spacecraft to search one planet in October.

There could also once have been oceans on Mars, though not all scientists agree on this.

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But finding water is not the same as finding alien life. With this in mind, Nasa has just started work on a new space telescopeA device which makes things look nearer than they are. . It will be called the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO).

So far scientists have found over 5,500 worlds orbitingCircling around another thing. other stars. The HWO's mission will be to look for life on 25 worlds similar to our own.

Can we believe it this time?

Yes! Nasa is doing everything it can to find signs of alien life - and soon. There are so many other planets out there - surely aliens live on one?

No! We have been looking for aliens for years and years. So far, we have not found any signs of life. This will not change in 2024.