Directed panspermia

Directed panspermia is the deliberate transport of microorganisms into space to be used as introduced species on other astronomical objects.

Historically, Shklovskii and Sagan (1966) and Crick and Orgel (1973) hypothesized that life on the Earth may have been seeded deliberately by other civilizations. Conversely, Mautner and Matloff (1979) and Mautner (1995, 1997) proposed that humanity should seed other planetary systems, protoplanetary discs or star-forming clouds with microorganisms, to secure and expand its organic gene/protein lifeform. To avoid interference with local life, the targets may be young planetary systems where local life is unlikely. Directed panspermia can be motivated by biotic ethics that value the basic patterns of organic gene/protein life with its unique complexity and unity, and its drive for self-propagation.

Directed panspermia is becoming possible due to developments in solar sails, precise astrometry, the discovery of extrasolar planets, extremophiles and microbial genetic engineering. Cosmological projections suggest that life in space can then have a future.^[1]^[2]

^ Mautner, Michael N. (2005). "Life in the cosmological future: Resources, biomass and populations" (PDF). Journal of the British Interplanetary Society. 58: 167–180. Bibcode:2005JBIS...58..167M.
^ Mautner, Michael N. (2000). Seeding the Universe with Life: Securing Our Cosmological Future (PDF). Washington D. C. ISBN 978-0476003309.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

[CosmologicalFuture-1] Mautner, Michael N. (2005). "Life in the cosmological future: Resources, biomass and populations" (PDF). Journal of the British Interplanetary Society. 58: 167–180. Bibcode:2005JBIS...58..167M.

[SeedingBook-2] Mautner, Michael N. (2000). Seeding the Universe with Life: Securing Our Cosmological Future (PDF). Washington D. C. ISBN 978-0476003309.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

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