Earth Like Planets

The folks at NASA announced this week that they have discovered five new and unusual planets orbiting stars a few thousand light years away. They’re close neighbors according to the article, but they are probably not conducive to life as we know it. And it’s a hard thing to decide if that’s a good thing or bad.
The real prize is the search for an Earth-like planet, one that orbits a distant star within the habitable zone. And that means a place where liquid water can exist to support beings that may or may not look like us.
I’m really glad that NASA is doing this research, and my joy is not just for the obvious reasons, like hoping that my alter ego on that planet is rich.
My real reason for liking this research is selfish and I’ll admit it, because you see that before the discovery of an Earthlike planet is announced to the public, NASA must first tell the president and congress.
The way I see it is that as soon as congress gets word that there’s another civilization out there, that they will all rush to go on a fact finding trip to see if the residents of that planet will buy Georgia peanuts, or a GM car.
Think of it: Every congress person and Senator quickly leaving on a set of spaceships heading to another star system.
I sure hope they find one of those planets fast.