What lay beyond our solar system was once a question left to be answered by best guesses and estimates.

We didn’t know for sure if there were planets outside of our corner of the Milky Way. We didn’t even know if our solar system was a typical model for what a solar system looks like.

But, in recent years, many of our grandest questions are being answered thanks to a new revolution in astronomy that has really changed our understanding of the universe.

Since the first extrasolar planet orbiting an ordinary star was discovered and confirmed in 1995, a wave of planets in far away systems have been found ­— more than 300, with hundreds of others yet to be confirmed.

Enter Kepler — not the 16th century astronomer, but the NASA mission named after him.

The Kepler Mission, launched this year, is NASA’s attempt to look for Earth-like planets in a specific region of space for more than three years.

Until now, planets of comparable or larger size to that of Jupiter have been the main type discovered, mainly due to limitations in our current technology. But, with Kepler and an earlier, but less-powerful satellite telescope launched by the European Space Agency (ESA), we will soon know how many Earth-like planets there are in the Milky Way and where we can expect to find them.

NASA and non-affiliated astronomers envisioned the Kepler mission giving them the momentum to follow up with other more specific missions after Kepler serves its purpose.

After identifying Earth-like planets ­— rocky and in their parent sun’s habitable zone — missions designed to see if water, oxygen or other important elements for life exist on certain planets would follow. Technology is progressing so fast that in the near future, there will be a mission designed to see if organic life has left its imprint on the atmospheres of these planets.

Short of making some kind of amazing contact with aliens via the Paul Allen funded Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence Institute, Kepler and its future cousin missions are our best bet for discovering life outside of our solar system.

But the most amazing thing about it all is that we could know with fair accuracy whether life exists outside our region of space within 30 years, if funding goes ahead for prospective projects.

The complex nature of grants and NASA funding in the United States means that we could be behind the ESA in the next decade, especially as we struggle to get out of economic mediocrity.

But the ESA has one of the most intriguing projects on tap for after 2016. Darwin, a telescope that will detect Earth-like planets orbiting nearby stars and search for evidence of life by taking infrared images of candidate planets’ atmospheres, will hopefully be able to find traces of oxygen, water vapor, carbon dioxide and ultimately, life.

We truly live in exciting times.

This is just preparation for the inevitable, when the main story on CNN or The New York Times is that we’ve found life outside of our solar system.

Get ready.

It’s going to be an amazing ride.

Reach opinion editor Allen Wagner at opinion@dailyuw.com.