Aliens & Astrobiologists
Astrobiology is one of the most interesting emerging scientific studies and breakthroughs are happening faster and faster as the field expands. In short, astrobiology is the study of life in the universe and was once known as ‘exobiology’.At its core, astrobiology asks one important question: does extraterrestrial life exist, and, if it does, how can we as humans detect it and learn about it?
In recent news, Helen Sharman, Britain's first astronaut and renowned chemist at Imperial College London, believes that alien lifeforms that are currently impossible to spot may be actively living among us without detection. Life, at its core, can be difficult to define. Often, biologists use the acronym ‘MRSGREN’ to highlight the parameters for life - movement, respiration, sensitivity, growth, reproduction, excretion, and nutrition. According to an article in inverse, there are over 100 active definitions of what ‘life’ is. Needless to say, although it may seem easy at the start to define and detect life it may be more complicated than we realize.
Dr. Sharman believes, without question, that aliens exist. She continues her thoughts noting, “Will they be like you and me, made up of carbon and nitrogen? Maybe not. It’s possible they’re here right now and we simply can’t see them.” What Dr. Sharman is referencing is known as a shadow biosphere -which is the word used to identify currently existing but undiscovered creatures likely made up of a very different biochemistry from life as we know it.
As for life outside of our little blue planet, TESS, our intrepid exoplanet explorer, has yet to detect any true earth analogues (which would be the easiest to investigate for life). While we may be on the cusp of detecting biosignatures of life around the universe, that ‘cusp’ could take years to come to fruition. Currently, Sarah Seager and her team at mIT are working on a long list of secondary biomarkers (beyond methane, oxygen, and carbon dioxide) which will shape the future of astrobiological observations, research, and analysis.
The above image is of Artist's concept of CAESAR ( Comet Astrobiology Exploration Sample Return) obtaining a sample from comet Gerasimenko for its return and analysis on Earth. The solar arrays will be raised into a Y-shaped configuration to minimize the chance of dust accumulation during contact and provide more ground clearance in case the spacecraft tips over during contact..