NASA has announced it's vision to conduct advanced telescope searches for planets residing in the so called Goldilocks zone or the zone around a star where water remains in it's liquid state.
To date 100 planets have been found orbiting other stars within our own Galaxy and the list is growing every month.
The first space Observatory called Terrestrial planet finder-c will carry a 4x6 metre optical telescope with a coronagraph disc to block the glare from the parent star,should be launched by 2014.
The second called Planet Finder-1 will launch by 2020 and is a joint ESA/NASA project,this will be multiple spacecraft flying in precise formation each carrying a 3 to 4 metre infared telescope,using principles of interferometry the telescopes will simulate a much larger observatory.
Just think in our lifetimes we will be able to see possible Earth like planets orbiting around different suns
And maybe i'll have a couple of models too add to the Hubble s/t model.
REGARDS J.S