A computer-animated speculative documentary created for the Discovery Channel, ALIEN PLANET posits a situation not far in the future, when human technology has developed artificial intelligence advanced enough to be sent into space to search for alien life. Scientists have identified Darwin IV, a planet 6.5 light years from the Earth, as a possibly life-sustaining environment, with two suns and 60% of earth's gravity. They send two AI probes, Newton (Ike) and da Vinci (Leo), to investigate the planet, expecting to find microscopic life forms. Instead, they find an ecosystem teeming with a diversity of life that rivals earth's own, with danger and wonder aplenty. The ensuing action was written according to the speculations of a team of top scientists in the field, including Stephen Hawking (A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME); J. Craig Ventor, who mapped the human genome; string theorist Michio Kaku; biologist David Moriarty; and many others. [D-Man2010]
How far is the planet from Earth?
6.5 light years