China Unveils Plans, To Search for Habitable Planets, Beyond Our Solar System.<br />'Newsweek' reports that China has plans <br />to begin hunting for habitable exoplanets to <br />"expand our living spaces" within the cosmos.<br />The mission would be the first to search <br />for habitable planets beyond our solar <br />system utilizing a space-based telescope.<br />The Closeby Habitable Exoplanet Survey <br />(CHES) would use a space telescope <br />with a 3.9-foot aperture. .<br />In January, China announced an ambitious five-year plan to expand its space program which includes exploring beyond our solar system.<br />The CHES telescope would be used to explore around 100 stars similar to our own sun at a distance of about 32 light-years.<br />Ji Jianghui, the principal investigator of the CHES mission, said the project hopes to answer questions about how planets become habitable and whether life exists anywhere else in the universe.<br />The discovery of the nearby habitable <br />worlds will be a great breakthrough <br />for humankind, and will also help <br />humans visit those Earth twins and <br />expand our living space in the future, Ji Jianghui, professor from the Purple <br />Mountain Observatory of the Chinese <br />Academy of Sciences, via 'Newsweek'.<br />'Newsweek' reports that exoplanet research <br />is rapidly advancing. Over 5,000 exoplanets <br />have been discovered since the 1990s. .<br />In 2017, NASA announced the discovery <br />of the Trappist-1 system, which is home <br />to seven rocky exoplanets similar to Earth.<br />In 2017, NASA announced the discovery <br />of the Trappist-1 system, which is home <br />to seven rocky exoplanets similar to Earth.<br />Three of those planets orbit their star <br />in the habitable zone, which means they could <br />potentially host liquid water on the surface
