As chair of Seti, Nasa’s Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence programme, Tarter,74, has dedicated much of her career searching for evidence for extraterrestrial life.

In a recent speech at the Florida Institute of Technology, Tarter said that the answer to the long-asked question of alien life will be revealed by the year 2100, reported Macedonian Information Agency (MIA).

The scientist explained that humans have not discovered alien life yet simply due to the size of the universe and the search territory covered relative to it, comparing it to looking for fish in the ocean by taking out a glass of water.

“We’re out in the boondocks. And our star, the sun, is only one of 400 billion other stars in the Milky Way galaxy,” Tarter told a conference here.

“And our Milky Way galaxy is only one of about 200 billion other galaxies in the observable universe.

“We’re really working on an ancient human question.

“We might, within the 21st century, have the answer to whether there is life beyond Earth,” she added.

The astronomer also spoke about the great strides in technology and astronomical data during her lifetime.

“When I was a student, we learned there were nine planets in our own system and then we went and lost one of those,” she joked.

“Now, we can build a series of 96 cameras, spread around 12 sites around the globe, working in the optical and infrared.

“We will literally be able to look up at all of the sky, all of the time to see if there are any bright flashes. To see if any other phenomenon, like fast radio bursts … I’m really excited about it.”

Tarter was once named one of TIME’s most influential people in the world, and she was the inspiration for Jodie Foster’s character in the 1997 movie, Contact.