From Newsgroup: alt.astronomy
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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/05/alien-life-nasa-jared-isaacman-artemis-ii
Chance of alien life rCygoes to heartrCO of space missions, Nasa chief says Jared Isaacman says odds of evidence we are not alone are rCypretty highrCO four days after Artemis II rocket lifted off
NasarCOs Orion spaceship four days into Artemis II mission: in pictures Edward Helmore
Sun 5 Apr 2026 13.26 EDT
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The top official at Nasa says that the chance of alien existence is a
factor in how the US space agency plans its missions.
Speaking on Sunday, Nasa administrator Jared Isaacman told CNNrCOs Meet
the Press that investigating the existence of alien life rCLgoes to the
heart of many things that we do at NasarCY, adding: rCLOur job here is to go out and try and unlock the secrets of the universe.rCY
The moon as seen from the Orion spacecraft during the Artemis II mission
on Friday.
Artemis II astronauts expected to reach far side of moon on Monday
Read more
One of the questions, he said, is rCLare we alone? The question would say
that is inherent in every one of our scientific endeavors, our
exploration endeavors.rCY
Issacman pointed to a potential moon base on the south pole of the moon
that would incorporate telescopes rCLthat will help us continue this great searchrCY.
But the official qualified his comments, offering that he had been to
space twice and rCLdidnrCOt encounter any aliens up there. I have not seen anything to suggest that we have been visited by any intelligent life
forms out there.rCY
But, he added, rCLwhen you think about it, we got 2tn galaxies out there.
Who knows how many star systems within each of it? I would say the odds
that we will find something at some point to suggest that we are not
alone are pretty high.rCY
IsaacmanrCOs comments come four days into NasarCOs Artemis mission to circumnavigate the moon, the first lunar mission since 1972. The four
crew members of the Orion spacecraft crew were closer to the moon, at
110,700 miles (178,000km), than to Earth, at 169,000 miles, when they
woke up on Saturday.
woman looks out window at planet Earth
View image in fullscreen
In an image provided by Nasa, astronaut and Artemis II mission
specialist Christina Koch peers out of one of the Orion spacecraftrCOs
main cabin windows as the crew travels towards the moon on Thursday. Photograph: AP
The capsule will loop around the moonrCOs far side, a milestone that will occur on Monday evening, and slingshot back toward Earth where it is
expected to arrive on Friday.
Nasa has said it was able to fix the spacecraftrCOs $30m, titanium vacuum-based Universal Waste Management System (UWMS) toilet to normal operations. The crew had reported a blinking fault light on the system,
which requires headphones to use, and uses suction to separate waste,
venting urine into space and storing fecal matter in canisters for
return to Earth.
Isaacman addressed the issue on Sunday, saying: rCLThroughout the history
of human spaceflight, so going from the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo program,
to shuttle, to Mir and International Space Station to Dragon, which I
flew on, and, of course, Orion, the toilet working is almost a bonus capability.rCY
He added that of all the rCLextraordinary things in space right nowrCY, a working bathroom remains elusive. rCLNailing this capability is one that
we need to certainly work on I will say we build in a lot of backups,rCY Isaacman said, pointing to different vent lines to jettison urine.
rCLEven when we have an issue with some freezing on the primary, the
secondary has been working. So, believe me, the astronauts, theyrCOre OK
right now, and they were well prepared for the situation,rCY he said.
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