A Powerful Head Start: Kepler 452b

If given the opportunity to lead a rousing crew through the treacherous wonders of space, I would advise a final destination of Kepler 452b. My reasoning for possible life on Kepler 452b would be based on the foundational evidence that it has similar qualities to Earth, but would be inspired by the detail that Kepler 452b is roughly 1.5 billion years AHEAD OF EARTH IN EXISTENCE.

Via Nytimes.com, an artist's concept of Kepler 452b orbiting

Let’s first discuss the nitty gritty, the ice cold facts, the meat that makes Kepler 452b a plausible destination. The orbit and year length of Kepler 452b is almost identical to Earth’s, this is significant because the orbit dictates temperature range and a steady range is necessary for life to exist. Another essential feature is the physical makeup of the planet. Kepler 452b was predicted to have a very rocky terrain based on simulations, and because of the similarities to earths size/orbit water presence is not out of the realm of possibility.

Via penny4nasa.org, a comparison of Earth and Kepler 452b

Additionally, the main reason why I chose Kepler 452b as the supreme destination when searching for life is because of the unknown possibilities that exist when dealing 1.5 billion years in advance. Now, that probably is miniscule in the context of space history, but when viewed through a human-esque lenses, 1.5 billion years is massive. Think of all the technological advancements that could be made in 1.5 billion years! Could aliens have developed a sophisticated invisibility blanket that hides them from outside views? I say why not. For this reason, I believe it is possible intellectually comparable beings could inhabit the wondrous Kepler 452b.

The creatures would look similarly to humans, but would have highly refined mechanisms to survive given that Kepler 452b has a few noteworthy survival obstacles.

Obstacle 1: The diameter of Kepler 452b is 1.6x the size of earth, which means about a 60% increase in gravity pull

Solution: The creatures would either have extremely efficient cardiovascular systems to support movement OR their movement would be relatively stationary and body suits would be developed for use when strenuous movement is needed.

Obstacle 2: Lack of water due to warmer conditions and proximity to sun

Via Cbsnews.com, an artist's concept of the surface of Kepler 452b

Solution: The creatures would develop sustainable mining practices to gather water, and filtration systems to reabsorb used water. Again, this is all hypothetical, but using the 1.5 BILLION years in advance argument, anything with these creatures is possible in my book.

Space travel has always been a difficult concept for me to grasp. The abstract nature of the idea is fascinating, yet intimidating. When delving into these readings and personal accounts the last few weeks, slowly but surely, I have found more clarity on the topic than ever before. A small tidbit that stood out was the physical examples given by our guest speaker, Douglas Dechow. The notion that the simplistic rubber erasers made up a significant portion of the spacecraft was mind boggling at first, but gave perspective. If rubber is currently used to travel in space, who is to say there won’t be more sophisticated material used in the next 100 years? Imagine how far we will go once that happens. The physical aspect of space travel is only part of the story as well. Imagine the growing possibilities that will arise in conjunction with the evolution of the human mind. All things are possible, even Kepler 452b, as far as I am concerned. 

All we got to do is make sure we don’t destroy ourselves first, via dividing mindsets or via greenhouse gases or via Trump.

Onward and Upward!