NASA’s next mission to Mars will be its most advanced yet. But if scientists discover there was once life — or there is life — on the Red Planet, will the public be able to handle such an extraterrestrial concept?

NASA chief scientist Jim Green doesn’t think so.

“It will be revolutionary,” Green told the Telegraph. “It will start a whole new line of thinking. I don’t think we’re prepared for the results. We’re not.”

Tonight—just like every night—the pursuit of E.T. perseveres in Hat Creek, California.

There, in the midst of the Cascade Mountains, the faint buzz of the Allen Telescope Array hums on a secluded and scrubby field where jackrabbits wander and rattlesnakes roam.

Since 2007, the array’s 42 radio dishes have scanned the skies for signals from alien civilizations. Detecting one is the longest of long shots. So far, nothing suggesting an extraterrestrial intelligence has been found. Here at Hat Creek, a close encounter with a bear seems more likely.

Leading astronomer says discovery will open up ‘whole new line of thinking’.

It’s a long shot, but scientists are about to listen very closely for radio signals from our solar system’s first known interstellar visitor.

‘ALIEN’ sulphur breathing creatures have been discovered thriving in rock miles underground, in a boost for finding life elsewhere in the Universe, scientists have revealed.

Stars constantly douse their planets with harsh ultraviolet radiation flares. However, some life-forms may have developed a protective glow, also known as biofluorescence, to survive powerful stellar bursts.