Summary

Are we alone in the universe? To address this question, NASA’s next flagship space telescope, the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO), will search for habitable planets beyond our solar system. What do you think these worlds will look like? Your challenge is to use publicly available information on habitable worlds to design your own habitable world and write about what life might be like on it.

Background

At some point, we all look at the beautiful night sky and wonder “What is beyond the stars?” Such a question led to the creation of some of NASA’s greatest flagship missions, including the Hubble Space Telescope, the Voyager Spacecraft, the Cassini-Huygens Spacecraft, and most recently, the James Webb Space Telescope. As we learn more about the Sun, stars, and universe, we unearth more questions. Astronomers and other scientists have always entertained a common question: “Are we alone in the universe?” NASA seeks to find a verdict with its next space telescope, the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO), which will image and characterize hundreds of exoplanet candidates beyond our solar system to determine if there really is life in other corners of the universe.

Because the universe has infinitely unique possibilities, there exist infinitely unique planets. NASA telescopes have discovered planets that are hotter than our Sun, a planet with the density of a marshmallow (TOI-3757 b), a planet with clouds made of glass (HD 189733 b), and even rarer—planets that are similar to our home planet, Earth. Publicly available information about habitable worlds can be used to predict the types of planets the Habitable Worlds Observatory may discover.

Objectives

Your challenge is to use publicly available information on habitable worlds to design your own habitable world and write about what life might be like on it. As you create your very own habitable exoplanet, think about how life exists on Earth, and how our Sun and solar system make life on Earth possible. Remember that although strange and non-Earth-like planets do exist, they cannot sustain biological life as we know it!

HWO might eventually discover a vast number of very diverse habitable exoplanets! Can you creatively combine NASA data about exoplanets and habitable worlds with your imagination to envision what one of those worlds might look like?

Potential Considerations

As you design your planet, you may (but are not required to) consider the following:

Be creative! Get inspired by different forms of media.
Paint with the facts: Use NASA’s publicly available scientific data (see Resources) to create a realistic, original, habitable world.
Think about living on your planet. Is it too hot, too cold, or just right? How much water is available? What does the surface of your planet look like?
The solution to this challenge can be adapted to beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels of data and design experience. Everyone is welcome! For example, consider the following approaches:

Earth Level: Name and hand-draw a picture of a habitable exoplanet and write a short paragraph about what it would be like to live on it.
Neptune Level: Name and create a detailed picture, 3D rendering, and/or AI-generated image of a habitable exoplanet and write a 200-word passage about what it would be like to realistically (based on the types of technology we currently have or expect to have in the future) or fictionally (technology at the fantasy level) live on it.
Jupiter Level: Name and create a detailed picture, 3D rendering, and/or AI-generated image of a habitable exoplanet, and based on astrobiological concepts, develop a 500-word passage about what it would be like to realistically live on it.

For data and resources related to this challenge, refer to the Resources tab at the top of the page.

NASA Space Apps 2023

Habitable Exoplanets: Creating Worlds Beyond Our Own