With hundreds of billions of galaxies in the universe and even more stars and planets in those galaxies, isn’t it closed-minded of us to think that we are the only intelligent life in the universe? There are numerous instances that have led us to believe that are “aliens” in the skies.

The idea that aliens come to earth is harder to believe than that they are real. There are hundreds of planets believed to be just like earth. NASA is taking steps to figuring out if there is a possibility of other planets hosting life. According to NASA’s website, “[NASA is] also turning the Space Launch Systems attention to exploring the possibilities of food crops grown in controlled environments for long-duration missions to deep-space destinations such as Mars.”

The conversation goes into a gray area, especially if the question,“why haven’t they contacted us yet,” appears. That is where a lot of people start doubting life outside of earth; they mistakenly assume they have had time to evolve and get technology, yet haven’t contacted us.

There is also a religious argument that God only created the heavens and earth, clearly stated in the Bible. In my opinion, the Bible is just stories that people have written down. It was passed through the oral tradition and translated time after time--stories change. It’s science versus religion in a lot of these arguments.

We see on Earth that most places on this planet have life, even in extreme conditions from the deep, dark, oxygen-deprived ocean trenches to the hot acidic springs in Yellowstone National Park to the driest desert known. There could be life on Mars that either originated there or here and ‘hitchhiked’ there on space rocks. Jupiter's moon, Europa, could have life that originated independently underneath the ice shell where there is strong evidence of a liquid water ocean. We are beginning to find planets around other stars that have similarities to Earth and they could have oceans, atmospheres and probably life.

Even with research, this is one of those things that will likely remain inconclusive. However, that doesn’t mean we should stop trying to find an answer.