If you keep up with where the next SpaceX or Blue Origin rocket is headed, you are probably familiar with NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test, a project to determine if a rocket launched from Earth can alter the course of an asteroid by colliding with it. If DART had been available 63 million years ago, dinosaurs might still roam the earth. When dinosaurs went extinct following an asteroid collision, life on earth was changed forever. It could happen again if a sizable asteroid gets a direct hit. Meanwhile, the possibility of life on other planets continues to intrigue scientists and laypeople alike.

 

If life is found beyond Earth, scientists known as astrobiologists will want to study any living beings. The first discoveries may only be microscopic organisms. Ecological research extends to life we cannot see with the naked eye. An astrobiologist asks questions such as: Can life be created from chemical compounds? What are the processes necessary to do so? Can life travel from one planet to another? If so, how? Today’s technology brings us closer to solving such mysteries. 

 

The field of astrobiology involves a conglomerate of already-established scientific disciplines such as oceanography, chemistry and microbiology. Geneticists, ecologists and geologists will also be involved in addressing questions that will arise. One age-old question that can now be addressed by astrobiologists is how did life on Earth begin? With the advent of space travel, scientists may be able to answer a modern extension of that question¬—can we find evidence of similar conditions in our own solar system or elsewhere in the galaxy?

 

Extreme environmental conditions are not an insurmountable obstacle to life. In our own world creatures live at sea depths far beyond the sun’s light, at unimaginable pressures. Fish and worms thrive around deep ocean thermal vents of volcanic origin, where sulfides serve as a chemical energy source. Living bacteria are found in toxic waste dumps, and even larger organisms live beneath Antarctic ice. The mere fact that humans cannot live in such hostile environmental conditions does not mean life cannot exist. Life can take many forms. 

 

Today’s astrobiologists keep their feet on the ground, but their children and grandchildren may well have theirs on other planets. Space shuttles have already reached Mars and human spaceflight seems possible. Imagine landing on another world where water is known to occur and from which life has even been reported.

 

Astroecology, a subset of astrobiology, has great potential as a scientific field. If we discover extraterrestrial living organisms, the questions raised would be limitless. Where do they get their nourishment? How do they convert food to energy? How do they reproduce? How did they get to where they are? Ironically, ecologists have not yet answered those questions for most plants and animals that share this world with us. Nonetheless, looking for the answers on other worlds has great appeal to some scientists.

 

Eventually we will need to consider what happens if scientists do discover life on other planets. Will we want space-traveling researchers to return to Earth after searching for life on another planet? Could they intentionally or unintentionally bring back living entities with them in the form of microorganisms or a virus that could spell doom for human beings? Might be best if they stream their findings for us and then enjoy their stay, permanently.

 

With the development of human space travel, we will be confronted with ethical dilemmas similar to those we face with transgenic vegetables, cloning and test-tube babies. Questions posed by such dilemmas are as boundless as the universe. But if we are to live in that universe, we must continue to seek the answers. Determining if we can change the trajectory of a small asteroid is one more step in conquering outer space and determining whether astroecology might one day be a field of scientific study.