The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Library of Congress gathered philosophers, scientists, and historians to prepare humanity for the possibility of discovering alien life.

Everyone gathered at a two-day symposium entitled, "Preparing for Discovery." Their agenda was to prepare humanity for the unavoidable discovery of extraterrestrial life, be it microbial or intelligent beings.

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Astronomer, symposium organizer, and former chief NASA historian Steven Dick said there are just so many distinct possibilities.

If microbes are discovered, it would be totally different than if intelligent beings were discovered, which would also be different than finding intelligent beings with the capacity to communicate.

Dick said the purpose of the symposium was to be prepared for the discoveries, and to prepare the public for the implications of the discoveries.

He also adds NASA is on-board with this meeting of minds due to the countless number of exoplanets discovered and advances in astrobiology in general.

Seth Shostak, a senior astronomer at California's SETI Institute gave a clearer picture of how many stars there are in the part of the universe we can see.

He said there were 10,000 billion, billion stars. About 70 percent or 80 percent of the stars have planets.

The numbers alone could suggest the potential of life. This raises the question, "Are we alone in the universe?"

"If all of those planets are sterile, and you're the only interesting thing happening in the cosmos, then you are a miracle," Shostak said.

"That would be exceptional in the extreme. So, the middle-of-the-road approach is to say, 'You're not a miracle, you're just another duck in a row of ducks'."

For now, NASA will continue searching the universe for more stars, planets and life forms.  

TagsNASA, Library of Congress, Preparing for Discovery, Steven J. Dick, Seth Shostak