It was around a few months back that NASA chief scientist Jim Green predicted the possibility of discovering alien life within 2021 on Mars. Green also added that humans are not prepared enough to accept the realities surrounding extraterrestrial existence. Now, a scientist has suggested that alien life could be discovered on asteroids this year, and it could help modern science to understand how space rocks spread life throughout the universe.
Significance of asteroids in search of alien life
A recent article which was written by Ian Whittaker, lecturer in physics at Nottingham Trent University, and Gareth Dorian, postdoctoral research fellow in Space Science at the University of Birmingham talks about the vitality of Ryugu asteroid exploration in discovering alien life.
"The first sample of the surface involved firing a small pellet at the asteroid which caused regolith (soil) to be ejected from the surface. At the same time, the satellite approached the surface to collect the dust. JAXA's Ryugu mission also collected a sample from the inside of the asteroid – a region that hasn't been exposed to the interstellar medium or the solar wind. This trickier task involved firing a 2.5kg object at high speed into the asteroid from a safe distance and then briefly landing to collect the material," wrote the duo in The Conversation.
These scientists believe that analysis which will be conducted on Ryugu asteroid could help to understand more about its composition, and it will also make scientists know deep about Panspermia theory.
"The samples will allow a detailed look at asteroid composition, giving us some idea of where they might have come from and whether they are capable of carrying life. This is important as it could provide evidence for or against the panspermia theory – the idea that life exists throughout the universe, and is spread by asteroids and meteorites," added Dorrian and Whittaker.
Elon Musk's view on extraterrestrial life
As the search for alien life goes on in full swing, SpaceX founder Elon Musk believes that there is no alien life in the cosmos. As per Elon Musk, humans are the only conscious beings in the universe, and he recently urged human species to emerge as a multi-planetary species using this consciousness.
