English: International Space Station insignia. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

You can freeze it, thaw it, vacuum dry it and expose it to radiation, but still life survives. ESA’s research on the International Space Station is giving credibility to theories that life came from outer space — as well as helping to create better sunscreens.n 2008 scientists sent the suitcase-sized Expose-E experiment package to the Space Station filled with organic compounds and living organisms to test their reaction to outer space.

Living organisms surviving in open space supports the idea of ‘panspermia‘ — life spreading from one planet to another, or even between solar systems.

It seems possible that organisms could colonize planets by hitching rides on asteroids. ESA is probing this intriguing theory further on future Station missions with different samples.

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