Could Kepler 22b Support Life and How Would We Get There?

[tinypositrons]

People are saying that Kepler 22b looks like it may harbour life. How could we ever know? I was just wandering, but what would the delta v be to do a Hoffmann transfer (if this works on an interstellar scale) to Kepler 22b?

 

[D H]

Kepler 22b was the first planet in it's parent star's habitable zone that was discovered by the Kepler mission. That does not mean that it harbors life. We can get a better idea if it does harbor by looking for chemical signatures of life in its atmosphere. The technology to do that is a ways off, but it does not require going there. Going there is not feasible and won't be for a long, long time. With current technology it would take tens of millions of years to get there. Looking for chemical signatures of life is perhaps a decade or two in the future, perhaps even sooner.

 

[Astronuc]

People are saying that Kepler 22b looks like it may harbour life. How could we ever know? I was just wandering, but what would the delta v be to do a Hoffmann transfer (if this works on an interstellar scale) to Kepler 22b?

As D H indictated, it would take current spacecraft millions of years to get there (~600-620 ly).

http://exoplanet.eu/catalog/kepler-22_b/

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/news/releases/2011/11-99AR.html