NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope has discovered a record-breaking seven Earth-like planets orbiting a single star, with conditions to support life somewhere between possible and probable.

The discovery is huge as the planets circle the star TRAPPIST-1, which is just 39 light-years from Earth. This means humans could conceivably reach the planets as technology develops.

“We can’t get there tomorrow, but as there’s every reason to believe we could be destroying these planets’ ecosystems within a millennia or two.”

Opponents of action on climate change were especially delighted at the news as they say it proves their careless attitude towards the environment was the right one all along.

“See it’s no big deal if we destroy the Earth – because we have at least seven spares.”