Finding Earth 2: Distance-imaging technology

Image: Extra-solar planet
Info: Wikipedia definition of 'extra-solar planet'; current search programs

The search for life on other planets actually begins here on Earth: Our world is teeming with life, and therefore likely represents the kind of place to find extraterrestrial life similar to ours.
The problem at first was whether planets existed outside our solar system. Now that question has been answered and it's time to start searching for smaller, more temperate, earth-like planets, that could harbor forms of life perhaps not too different than our own. Things we can interact with, not amorphous bacteria or wisps of microbial life, but walking, squawking, perhaps even talking, things that will inspire us to visit.

(Enlightened people already know life exists in a myriad of forms in the Universe. We don't have to see it to know it's there--like our belief in God.)

Anyway, NASA's Kepler mission seeks to pull back the veneer of Space and reveal a small portion of what lies beneath. Scientists estimate the orbiting telescope could discover more than 600 Earth-sized planets in its four-year mission, but that's only the beginning. Kepler is merely searching for planets the right size, distance from their sun and composition (rocky surface, evidence of water) to support life. Once that's accomplished, NASA intends to launch the Terrestrial Planet Finder in 2010. That's when the fun really begins as scientist sift through the data, analyzing atmospheric composition and levels of ozone, methane, carbon dioxide and water vapor, to determine which planets are harboring life. Life!
Eventually astronomers hope to actually view continents and surface features (or structures) on these planets, but so far, that's just talk.

Not all of the searches are designed to look for life, however. We all know of the SETI project, and their program to listen for sounds of life. But some scientists believe if you really want to find an alien species, just open your eyes. Light flashes from alien species should twinkle like Christmas lights, but so far, no sign of them.
It seems a long shot, but as far as The Space Ace is concerned, all attempts at proving once and for all that we are not alone, are welcomed.