Well NASA is developing a new mission called SIM PlanetQuest. This mission is to find out whether there are other planets like Earth out there that could possible support life of some sort. We have been discovering planets all the time but this will be specifically for planets like Earth. Terrestrial Planet Finder observatories will use remote sensors to find out about planets and their characteristics and tell whether they could support some type of life. This mission is planned to be launched in the next decade.

Link:
http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/newwor..._interview.html

Hopefully this wil be a successful mission and we will find out about other life forms. The only problem then would being able to get there. It takes many many years just to leave the solar system. It could take a very long time to reach another planet. I guess that'd be the next step. To come up with some faster shuttle that can blast through space or send some rovers to explore first but if there isn't a life form to understand what it is it could be destroyed. It's really interesting what could be out there.