ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

New Worlds Project

So, you know how we live on planet Earth? Well, there are some really smart people who want to find other planets out there in space that we could live on too! They call this the "New Worlds Project."

To do this, scientists use special telescopes to look out into space and find stars that are like our sun. Then they study those stars really carefully to see if they have any planets orbiting around them.

If they find a planet, they try to learn more about it. They try to figure out how big it is, what it's made of and if it has an atmosphere just like Earth. They do this because if a planet is too small or too big or doesn't have the right atmosphere, we can't live there.

Once they find a planet that they think we could live on, they make plans to send a spacecraft there to explore it more. They want to know everything about it - like if there's water, air, and if there are things living on it already.

The New Worlds Project is really important because someday, maybe we will have to leave Earth and find a new planet to live on. And the scientists working on this project are trying to find the best one for us!