At the media event, I was reminded again of the GMT's potential to revolutionize the field of exoplanet research. Jared Males, an assistant astronomer at the University of Arizona's Steward Observatory, presented a chart of some known exoplanets the GMT will target. Among them is Proxima Centauri b, an Earth-sized planet orbiting our nearest stellar neighbor. Using adaptive optics, which removes the blurring effect of Earth's atmosphere, the GMT will be able to detect compounds like molecular oxygen, ammonia, and ozone in the atmospheres of Earth-sized planets in their stars' habitable zones, which could indicate the presence of life.

The GMT will also peer back into the universe's first billion years, and closer to home, it will improve our solar system imaging capabilities. Scientists studying ice giants will get sharper views of Uranus and Neptune, which is helpful because those planets don't get spacecraft visitors very often. The GMT is also agile enough to track asteroids.

So far, we know of about 30 Earth-size exoplanets in their stars' habitable zones. Could the GMT, or one of its brethren like the European Extremely Large Telescope or James Webb Space Telescope, make one of the biggest scientific discoveries of all time? The prospect is enticing.

And if we detect nothing? Perhaps it will inspire us to take better care of our own fragile world, which could actually be a cosmic outlier—the only known oasis in the lifeless void of space.