Life in space
Is
planet Earth unique in its ability to support life, or does life thrive
elsewhere in the solar system?
Scientists are searching for life throughout our solar system, so far to no avail, though occasionally quite stunning scientific achievements give tantalising results.
These results don't prove life exists elsewhere, but they do hint that life is possible on distant planets and far-off moons.
Some scientists think life on Earth originally came from space. They believe tiny microbes, frozen in the heart of comets or asteroids, could have brought life to this planet. At the very least scientists think comets, carrying complex organic (carbon-based) molecules, helped kick-start life here as all life on Earth is made of complex carbon molecules.
Space scientists want to grab samples of rock and earth from comets and asteroids as they hurtle through the solar system to examine their chemistry.
Scientists at the Natural Environment Research Council tend to keep their feet on the ground. NERC does not currently fund any extra-terrestrial science, though there are researchers in the NERC community interested in this topic. Scientists looking at how life survives in extreme environments, for example, the poles, around deep ocean hydrothermal vents (black smokers) and many miles beneath the surface of Earth, can inform space scientists on how life could survive in remote outposts of the solar system.