--- description: Humans need to find a new planet within 1,000 years to keep the species alive, professor Stephen Hawking said in a talk this week title: Stephen Hawking Gives Humans a Deadline for Finding a New Planet image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7a1c3817aaa9ac3e/6988aee5428a9e5375cd50bd/stephen-hawking-space-planet.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Science](/section/science/) ## Science Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Space](/tag/space/) ## Space Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Stephen Hawking Gives Humans a Deadline for Finding a New Planet  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Nov 17, 2016 5:09 PM CUT  Stephen Hawking attends the Pride Of Britain Awards at The Grosvenor House Hotel on Oct. 31, 2016 in London. Stephen Hawking attends the Pride Of Britain Awards at The Grosvenor House Hotel on Oct. 31, 2016 in London.Karwai Tang—WireImage  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Nov 17, 2016 5:09 PM CUT Humans need to find a new [planet](http://time.com/4565968/ron-howard-mars/ "undefined") within 1,000 years to keep the species alive, [Stephen Hawking](http://time.com/4507656/stephen-hawking-richard-branson-virgin-spaceshiptwo-space-travel/ "undefined") said in a talk this week. Hawking, the noted theoretical physicist, said that humans will likely expend the planet’s resources in that time, according to the remarks, first [reported](http://www.express.co.uk/news/science/732606/Stephen-Hawking-end-of-the-world "undefined") by _Daily Express._ “We must…continue to go into space for the future of humanity,” Hawking said, according to the remarks. “I don’t think we will survive another 1,000 years without escaping beyond our fragile planet.” **_(Gifts:_** [**_The 100 Most Influential Images of All Time)_**](http://shop.time.com/storefront/subscribe-to-time/link/1039114.html?xid=cm-TIMEShopscTIMEArticle "undefined") Hawking has made [similarly dire remarks](http://time.com/4185253/stephen-hawking-disaster-earth/ "undefined") in the past, including earlier this year when he called when he said disaster on Earth was a “near certainty.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4575054/stephen-hawking-humans-new-planet/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4575054/stephen-hawking-humans-new-planet/"},"headline":"Stephen Hawking Gives Humans a Deadline for Finding a New Planet","datePublished":"2016-11-17T17:09:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T01:53:31.627Z","description":"“We must...continue to go into space for the future of humanity\"","url":"https://time.com/4575054/stephen-hawking-humans-new-planet/","keywords":["Space"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7a1c3817aaa9ac3e/6988aee5428a9e5375cd50bd/stephen-hawking-space-planet.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7a1c3817aaa9ac3e/6988aee5428a9e5375cd50bd/stephen-hawking-space-planet.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"stephen hawking space planet","caption":"stephen hawking space planet","creditText":"Karwai Tang—WireImage","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/space/","name":"Space"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4575054/stephen-hawking-humans-new-planet/","name":"Stephen Hawking Gives Humans a Deadline for Finding a New Planet"}}]}] ```