There is a theory that life on Earth actually evolved because of debris from Mars landed on Earth – this is known as Lithopanspermia. That would make us aliens (Martians).
Could that be the case with our other potential life carriers in our Solar System? – Europa, Jupiter’s moon and Enceladus, Saturn’s ice rock satellite. Could there be Martians in Europa or Enceladus?
The short answer to that question is, highly unlikely. Here is why.
Both Europa and Enceladus has big oceans filled with salt water under that icy coverings – a definite sign of life. But now, the question is, is that from Mars? Or could they sustain a new life.
Jay Melosh, geophysicist at the Purdue University had possible answers to this at the annual fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union last week – reported first by space.com
His simulation showed, out of 100,000 ejections from Martian particles – with three speed variations 1, 3 and 5 kilometres per second, he predicted that a tiny amount – 0.0000002 % to 0.0000004 % for Enceladus and 0.00004 % to 0.00007 % for Europa could have ended up in these Moons. The same phenomena happened 4.5 billion years ago, when just 0.0000002 % to 0.0000004 % of the debris landed on Earth that started the whole evolution process. The numbers were about 100 times higher for Europa than that of Earth’s share.
Calculating how much of Mars’s rock we get every year (1 ton), he predicted, that Europa probably gets around 0.4 grams and Enceladus gets around 2-4 milligrams of Mars material every year.
The numbers seems too bleak for life to bode well and spread. One factor that would knock the optimism off is, it would probably take 2 billion years for the Mars particle to reach the Moon, that’s a long time for any microbial life to endure the harsh space conditions. This fact right here, tells us the odds are low.
Melosh, said, “So, the bottom line: If life should be found in the oceans of Europa or Enceladus, it is very likely that it’s indigenous rather than seeded from Earth, Mars or (especially) another solar system.”
That could only mean, if there are living organisms under that icy rock, it probably will be a commencement of a whole new life – making our solar system habitable for different types of life.
