--- title: "Former Astronaut Suggests Specific Planet for James Webb to Search for Life" description: "Scientists — and former astronauts alike — are excited for NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to scan distant worlds for signs of life." date: "2022-02-23" modified: "2022-02-23" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/astronaut-specific-planet-james-webb-life" categories: - "James Webb Space Telescope" - "NASA" - "Space" tags: - "Astronomy" - "Exoplanets" - "james webb space telescope" - "NASA" --- # Former Astronaut Suggests Specific Planet for James Webb to Search for Life ![Scientists — and former astronauts alike — are excited for NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to scan distant worlds for signs of life.]() *\Image: Gb89.2\* NASA's James Webb Telescope is gearing up to officially begin scientific operations later this summer. And scientists are already [excited]() for it to start scanning distant worlds for signs of life. There are plenty of places to look, of course. Researchers have already confirmed the existence of [almost 5,000 exoplanets](), with many more on the way. And out of an estimated 300 million planets suspected to harbor a "Goldilocks" region in which liquid water and thereby life could exist, NASA's Kepler mission alone has confirmed [several hundred](). Canadian astronaut legend Chris Hadfield has his own suggestion, [opining this past weekend]() that Kepler-442b would be "an excellent planet for \[NASA's James Webb Telescope\] to have a look at." Hadfield's reasoning, according to a quote tweet, was that some experts actually believe that Kepler-442b — which is about 1,200 light-year from Earth, by the way — may be *more* habitable than our own planet. In [a paper]() published in *The Astrophysical Journal* in 2015, a team of astrobiologists argued that several exoplanets identified by NASA's Kepler and K2 missions, including Kepler-442b, were highly likely to possess liquid surface water, like Earth. "We ranked the known Kepler and K2 planets for habitability and found that several have larger values of H \[the probability of it being terrestrial\] than Earth," reads the paper. The researchers' goal was to cut down on the number of exoplanet candidates so we could hit the ground running and observe the most likely candidates first. "Basically, we've devised a way to take all the observational data that are available and develop a prioritization scheme, so that as we move into a time when there are hundreds of targets available, we might be able to say, 'OK, that's the one we want to start with,'" lead author Rory Barnes from the University of Washington told *Wired* in 2015. NASA's JWST will use various methods to take a close peek at the atmospheres of exoplanets orbiting distant stars. Some scientists [even suspect]() it'll be sensitive enough to spot atmospheric pollution from any alien civilizations lurking out there. Regardless, we could find out soon. The telescope recently [locked on to its first star](), and is now calibrating its delicate array of golden mirrors. It's our best chance yet at getting a close look at habitable planets outside of our own solar system. **More on the JWST:** *[Scientists Already Plotting How James Webb Could Detect Alien Civilizations]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()