In little more than a decade, over 200 planets have been found orbiting other stars. So far, no worlds similar to Earth have been found, but that's possibly due to our limitations. As our technology and techniques improve, we'll begin to find smaller and smaller planets, and be able to examine them in more detail. If a sibling Earth exists in our general neighborhood, we could well find it by 2020. Dr. Seth Shostak of the SETI Institute has said he wouldn't be surprised if they find alien signals by 2025. There's an interesting convergence of different, though related, fields of study.
Even without alien signals or new Earths, however, the discoveries of so many extrasolar planets orbiting so many different types of stars already make it clear that if humans ever undertake interstellar travel, there will be destinations waiting. Planets, among other things, mean there will be natural resources to build habitats in free space, if not on a planetary surface. Civilizations can rise in star systems that have no natural life forms-- and those civilizations might be human, or something else.
The key is mastering interstellar travel. If things go well for humanity, we might have a good idea of how to settle among the stars in a few hundred years.
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