of the main tasks of Exobiology. The subject of this new branch of
science is the study of the origin, evolution and spreading of life in the
Universe.
This question remains still unanswered. Sensational announcements
about encounters with “Martians” or other extraterrestrial civilisations
continue to be topics mainly of science fiction books. The attempts for
establishing contacts by sending signals in space or spaceships to the
Moon or other planets of the Solar system have not yet yielded positive
results.
Despite this fact, it is hard to accept that life on the Earth is an
exception in the Universe. If however it proves to be so, then future
mankind will have to combine the joy derived from the happy incident with
the boredom of loneliness.
Based on detailed accounts some authors have expressed the
suggestion that in the numerous galaxies civilisations can be cropping up
every 10²years. According to the American astronomer H.
Shapley there are 10⁸ space bodies on which life could be engendered and exist after
that.
These assumptions raise a logical question. Since life origination is
of such a great frequency and its spreading in space after the panspermia
hypothesis is quite plausible why life is not a more frequently encountered
phenomenon? This leads to the thought that the accounts do not include
the strictly defined and concrete conditions necessary for its origination
and development. The planets of the Solar system can serve as an
example. Some of them theoretically have the possibilities for the
presence of life but as we shall see the results are far from hope raising.
The studies carried out by various methods on nearby and faraway
planets, asteroids, comets and meteorites show that molecules of CO,
NCN, NH₃, H₂S, HCHO, H₂O, etc. which could serve for abiotic synthesis
of more complex organic compounds are not rare in space. Organic
compounds of a varying composition combining H, C and N have been
registered in the interstellar space and cosmic dust. A number of high
molecular particles of various combinations of C, H, O and N,
hydrogencyanide and formaldehyde including, have also been found on
Halley’s comet. Carbon oxide (CO) has been recently detected on the
Hale-Bopp comet. These findings support the idea of the availability of
prerequisites for abiogenic synthesis in space. These prerequisites are
however only the first (space) stage of life origination. The second — the
biological stage, has proven to be much more complex.
And now let us remain in the boundaries of the Solar system and
look at Table 6. The data in it are directly connected to the prerequisites
for life origination and its further existence and propagation.
Moon. The only natural satellite of the Earth. It has been provoking
interest since antiquity. “Naked eye” observations of it have made people