By Naman Yadav

New Delhi [India], December 7 (ANI): Former NASA astronaut Mike Massimino, known for his work on the Hubble Space Telescope and who flew on two space missions, has weighed in on one of humanity's biggest questions: Are we alone in the universe?

The veteran astronaut--who flew on two space missions, conducted four spacewalks, and spent an astonishing 30 hours and 44 minutes working outside the spacecraft--shared that while we have no proof of alien contact, the possibility of life beyond Earth remains strong.

Speaking to ANI in an exclusive interview, Massimino said that despite popular speculation, 'We have no proof that we haven't been contacted or visited. There's no evidence of that.' But he emphasised that the sheer scale of the universe makes extraterrestrial life plausible.

'There are billions of galaxies with billions of stars in each,' he explained, noting that most of those stars have multiple planets of their own. 'We have seen some of the building blocks of life as we know it, even within our own solar system. We haven't discovered any life or any life form yet, but there's certainly possibilities out there somewhere.'

Addressing recent NASA studies suggesting aliens might even be listening to Earth, the astronaut said the real challenge isn't the existence of life--it's the ability to connect with it.

'The distances are really great between stars where we would think planets might, where planets are that we think maybe there's some sort of life somewhere. So it's not so easy to get to these places, to communicate to these places. And they're so far away that even at the speed of light, it takes a long time for a radio wave to travel if we were to try to make contact somewhere.'

For now, he says, humanity's search continues--limited not by imagination, but by physics.

The astronaut also gave a straightforward reponse to the viral question circulating on social media on whether or not 'can people have sex in space?'

'I don't see why not,' he said with a smile. 'I don't know if it's ever been tried--I've seen no evidence of it. But eventually we're going to be sending families to space, and that's going to be something.'

Just like aliens, Massimino noted, 'There's no proof but no physical reason preventing it.'Weighing in on prospects of reaching Mars in the next 20-25 years, the astronaut said it's expensive and extremely challenging--but achievable.

Several countries and organizations, inclding Elon Musk's SpaceX, have established ambitious, multi-stage plans to achieve the goal of going to Mars.

'Mars is much further away. The moon is always kind of close to Earth; we can get there any day of the year. But with Mars, you have to wait for the planets to align--only certain times of the year you can even launch.'

He highlighted the communication delays as a major operational hurdle.

'On the space station, you say 'Houston, we have a problem,' and get an answer in a second.

On the moon, it's about three seconds. On Mars? You say, 'We have a problem,' and 20-30 minutes later someone will say, 'What did you say?''

Despite the obstacles, he believes a human expedition is feasible, though astronauts would need to stay about a year on Mars while waiting for planetary alignment for the return trip. 'It's going to be a hard problem, but I don't see why we couldn't solve it.'

Addressing one of the world's most persistent conspiracy theories on Area 51, Massimino said, 'Area 51 is a secure area where there's classified work going on. There are no aliens there, as far as I know. You're not even allowed to fly over it.'

He stressed that hiding an alien visitation would be impossible: 'There's no way we could cover that up.'

Still, the veteran former NASA astronaut, who has now transitioned into the role of one of the most compelling voices in the world of space exploration, said that he remains hopeful about extraterrestrial contact--though not in the Hollywood style.

'One day we'll make contact. Maybe through communication, not visiting. But they'd need to be a lot smarter than us, because we're not close to being able to do that yet.' (ANI)