Question: 1111 : delma, do you thimk it is possible for the bacteria currently in space to evolve into aliens?

Delma Childers answered on 12 Jan 2016:

Hi again, 1111! Sadly, that’s a pretty slim possibility. However, there is a question in astrobiology about whether life could be transferred to other planets – this is called panspermia. Part of the idea speculates that life, perhaps bacteria, could be carried to another planet by a comet or meteor. If it took millions of years before we visited this hypothetical other planet, we could mistake or even debate about whether the life we find there is alien or just evolved Earth-based life.