[ExI] Life must be everywhere!

[BillK]

On Sat, Apr 14, 2012 at 5:49 PM, Tomasz Rola wrote:
> It is no better with smaller objects, which evaporate during atmospheric
> entry. Again, I assume temperature alone is enough to get rid of a life
> problem. Deceleration is going to improve this, I think.
>
> Add to this millions of years it takes to get somewhere inside 20ly
> radius. All those years ejecta is subject to all kind of radiation - full
> spectra, actually, including possibility of supernova during such a long
> time.
>
>

They are talking about microorganisms and I think you underestimate
how tough they are.
See:
<http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2010/08/the-x-files-dept-microbes-survive-yearandahalf-in-outer-space.html>
Quote:
In a separate experiment, another team ran computer models of giant
impacts like Chicxulub. In the simulations, millions of large boulders
were ejected from the earth. About 30 boulders from each Earth impact
even reached Titan, and they entered Titan’s atmosphere slower than
most meteors hit Earth’s atmosphere. Big rocks from Earth have no
doubt reached Enceladus, as well.

“That kind of entry should be no problem,” agreed Allan Treiman of the
Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, quoted in New Scientist.
Bacteria were found in wreckage of the shuttle Columbia when it
re-entered Earth’s atmosphere in 2003. And Earthly lichen survived
when exposed to the harsh environment of space.
-------------

Also
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microorganism>


BillK