Can life hitch a ride on a meteorite ?

Can life travel from planet to planet? A theory called Panspermia says that meteorites could potentially act as miniature spaceships, carrying microorganism passengers. But a new study has found that photosynthetic life probably wouldn’t survive the journey.Can life travel from planet to planet? When a rocky world is hit by a meteorite, the impact can send pieces of the planetary surface out into space, and eventually these ejected rocks can travel to other planets in the solar system. Here on Earth we have collected many meteorites that originated from the moon and from Mars, and there are also likely rocks from Earth sitting on the surfaces of our planetary neighbors.On Earth, tiny organisms like bacteria or lichen can live in the crevices and holes that permeate rocks. These forms of life, already adapted to the uncomfortable environment inside a rock, have proven to be resilient when subjected to the harsh conditions of space, often surviving radiation and frigid temperatures when exposed for short periods. Could such forms of life be carried in their rocky home to another world, and then, once landed, set up shop on the alien planet?This theory of life traveling between worlds is known as Panspermia. Some scientists have suggested that life on Earth could be alien-born, having originated on Mars or even further afield and then brought to Earth by a meteorite.

Today astrobiologists are testing the possibility of Panspermia in various ways. The STONE experiments of European Space Agency scientists sent microbes inside rocks into outer space to see if they could survive the journey.“To be transferred from one planet to another, you have to survive atmospheric exit, you have to survive the conditions in space, and you also have to survive atmospheric re-entry when you reach the destination planet,” says Charles Cockell, a microbiologist at the Open University in the UK who was involved in this study.