Extra solar planets..Why is NASA playin it safe...

[wildone_106]

Seems they are always so eager & happy to announce more discoverys of dry, gassy, completely waterless worlds with much glee. I doubt it'll be the case if/when they find more with water or heaven forbid signs of life then it'll be kept under wraps for decades..

 

[vogon13]

The current detection technique (precise radial velocity measurement) is most sensitive to these 'freak' planets, large and close to their central star.<br /><br />Tough working up much of a paranoia/conspiracy rant once one educates themselves on the particulars . . . . . <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>

 

[Swampcat]

Truth is never as much fun as a good conspiracy theory <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" />. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="3" color="#ff9900"><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong><em>------------------------------------------------------------------- </em></strong></font></p><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong><em>"I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical. Unsuccessful rebellions, indeed, generally establish the encroachments on the rights of the people which have produced them. An observation of this truth should render honest republican governors so mild in their punishment of rebellions as not to discourage them too much. It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government."</em></strong></font></p><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong>Thomas Jefferson</strong></font></p></font> </div>

 

[robnissen]

I agree completely. Why would NASA want to announce something that would enthrall the public, lead to an increase in NASA funding and perhaps win a Nobel Prize? WOO-WOO!!!!!!!!!!

 

[qso1]

Maybe you ought to consider two things:<br /><br />1.<br />Gassy, rocky, dry worlds are the majority. They are in our system.<br /><br />2.<br />Our technology is not yet to the level that would allow us to image an earthlike world, much less determine if it is life bearing. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong>My borrowed quote for the time being:</strong></p><p><em>There are three kinds of people in life. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen...and those who do not know what happened.</em></p> </div>