arXiv:1011.0101astro-ph.EP
Panspermia, Past and Present: Astrophysical and Biophysical Conditions for the Dissemination of Life in Space
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Abstract
Astronomically, there are viable mechanisms for distributing organic material throughout the Milky Way. Biologically, the destructive effects of ultraviolet light and cosmic rays means that the majority of organisms arrive broken and dead on a new world. The likelihood of conventional forms of panspermia must therefore be considered low. However, the information content of dam-aged biological molecules might serve to seed new life (necropanspermia).
We are only 3.7 billion years too late to be worrying about this. Earth rocks containing viable microbes have been landing on Mars for billions of years. I can't find a reference, but my memory is the rate is around 100 kg per year. Edit. Found some references [1 - 3]. 1.…
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