China has a plan to find an inhabited Earth!

This mission had already been discussed. But today, these are the chinese scientists to the commands that evoke it. Who detail it, even. Since they publish a white paper of some 115 pages to explain how they intend to go in search of a “Earth 2.0”. By relying on a new generation space observatory whose launch is scheduled for the end of 2026. The mission ” AND “ — for “Earth 2.0” — as they baptize it. Because the objective is there: to find a planet that could harbor life.

“The Earth-like habitable planets aroundstars of solar type, i.e. Earth 2.0, are probably the best places to search for extraterrestrial life because of their environment physicalchemical and potentially biological similar to Earth”, explain the researchers. Hence the idea of ​​first identifying an Earth 2.0 before starting to look for traces of life.

At the base of the project, seven telescopes which, like the James Webb Space Telescope from NASA, will be “stationary” to Lagrange point L2 for four years. Six of them — each 30 centimeters in diameter — will be aimed at the same region of the sky as the space telescope Kepler has already observed. To find your way around faster. Around the constellation of the Swan and that of the Lyre. Specially designed to overcome the noise discovered by Kepler around solar-type stars, they will track transits ofexoplanets.

The seventh telescope of the ET mission will face the center of our Milky Way. With the aim of identifying the phenomena of gravitational microlenses which could in particular betray the presence of a few wandering exoplanets. Planets that are no longer attached to a star. And in fact, particularly difficult to flush out.

More than a dozen Terres 2.0 in sight

Because, what the ET mission will be looking for is not just Earth-sized planets in orbit around stars similar to our Sun and at a distance close to that which we know to our Planet, but simply all terrestrial type planets. Also those whose orbits differ from that of our Earth and therefore, the possible rocky planets wanderers.

Chinese researchers have already conducted some simulations. They announce that the ET mission should be able to detect some 29,000 new exoplanets. Among them, nearly 4,900 the size of our Earth. And, assuming that the rate of occurrence of rocky planets similar to ours is 10%, possibly between 10 and 20 Earths 2.0. All from 2030, therefore.

Once these Earths 2.0 have been identified, it will still be necessary to study the composition of their atmosphere and to determine if water can flow on their surface. Next, researchers will have to look for biomarkers — such as methane or oxygen — or technosignatures — like transmissions radio — which could indicate that life developed there.

The white paper published by the researchers in charge of the project also tells us that the ET mission will not stop there. It will also target tens of thousands of objects in our Solar systemof the comets or some asteroids. As well as some of the oldest stars in our Milky Way. To help better understand the evolution of our galaxy.