Stephen Hawking is just as interested in alien life as all of us. But the British theoretical physicist has got way more enthusiasm (and money) than all of us that he decided to fund a search mission for extraterrestrial life. And the budget he has allotted for this is a whopping $100 million. 

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According to Sydney Morning Herald, Hawking has launched this well-funded search mission in an attempt of finding intelligent life outside the earth.

For the search, the Parkes telescope in NSW will be the primary instrument for use. 

Alongside the Parkes telescope, scientists will also use the largest radio telescopes in the world. The radio is going to be used in retrieving radio signals that could possibly lead man to finding alien life. 

Russian billionaire Yuri Milner is also onboard this search operation and he is also funding the 10-year project. Milner is a rich physicist who got most of his wealth from making smart investments in Facebook and other startups.

"It's the most interesting technological question of our day," Milner said of the project and its main purpose, as per Reuters.

Milner believes that if there really are extraterrestrial life, man could learn from them a coupe of things just like handling challenges and ways on how to preserve natural resources.

"If we're alone, we need to cherish what we have," Milner said. "The message is, the universe has no backup."

For the big space endeavor called Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence, scientists revealed $2 million will be spent yearly.

If the project can really prove that there are alien life forms out there, scientists may obtain more thorough understanding on how complex molecules came to be. 

With so many exoplanets however, the search for extraterrestrial life may really take so long. However, the scientists' drive to gamble everything in search for possibly living creatures in beighboring planets, according to The Guardian.

Scientists are holding on to the belief that if mankind managed to develop radio signaling, other alien life forms may be also familiar with the technology, provided they are civilized enough.

"It doesn't tell you anything about the civilization, but it tells you a civilization is there," chairman emeritus of the SETI Institute Frank Drake said.

Aside from radio signals, the team will also look for light-based signals from extraterrestrial life through the Lick Observatory situated in California. 

TagsStephen Hawking, Yuri Milner, Alien, extraterrestrial life, Space