Scientists claim aliens might not be able to travel in space like us

The search for alien life in the solar system may have taken another turn, after scientists claimed that alien life forms might not be able to travel in space like humans.

The idea of UFOs and flying saucers might be synonymous with science fiction, but in reality things could be very different.

According to a new study, physical restraints imposed by some planets may make the concept of space travel there almost impossible.

The research article in the Journal of the British Interplanetary Society looks into the various factors that alien civilisations would hypothetically face on a number of different astronomical objects.

The key part of the research focused on planets’ escape velocity and the impact it would have on civilisations looking to launch into space.

Most of the super-Earth planets scientists have identified as potential candidates for hosting alien life have much higher masses and gravity than Earth.

Earth has an escape velocity of 40,000 kilometres per hour, which means that a rocket would have to reach that speed to escape Earth’s gravitational pull.

Given the sheer size of the super-Earth planets, any hypothetical alien civilisation would face much higher escape velocities, making the concept of space travel very difficult indeed.

“It could therefore be the case that an intelligent species on these planets would never be able to travel into space due to sheer physical impossibility,” Elio Quiroga, the study’s author and a professor at the Universidad del Atlántico Medio in Spain, said.

“They would not be able to leave the planet using any conceivable amount of fuel, nor would a viable rocket structure withstand the pressures involved in the process, at least with the materials we know,” Dr Quiroga wrote in the study, discussing planets with Exoplanet Escape Factor (Fex) values that exceed 2.2.

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