Life and space.

Abstract

The studies dealing with the detection of life on planets and in space will have two periods. The first period will be associated with the application of automatical devices, which will detect living creatures, whereas the second, more late, period will be concerned with the investigations provided by man himself. In these studies one should proceed from the idea of life on the Earth, and, consequently, look for living creatures containing no water, no carbon dioxide, etc. only after obtaining negative results in searching for creatures similar to those living on the Earth. The whole course of "chemical evolution" on the Earth proves the necessity of the detection on other planets of heterotrophic microorganisms at first, and only afterwards to look for specialized forms, i.e. chemo- and photoautotrophs. It is usually underestimated that as a result of adaptation to certain ecological conditions existing on planets living creatures may appear, which will distinctly differ in their biological properties from terrestrial forms. At present there is no faultless investigation which is able to prove to existence of cosmobionts in meteorites. The appropriate experiments convince us that soil bacteria. may penetrate into the central parts of meteorites, which have been lying in the ground. Samplings at high altitudes with the aid of aerostats or the rockets are difficult to provide because of the possibility of pollution of samples by terrestrial microbes. It is therefore necessary to elaborate special devices and new methods for sampling. The most perfect instrument for the detection of microorganisms will be a device, which will record the multiplication rate of microbes in the liquid media simultaneously by means of different methods: manometry, nephelometry, potentiometry and the determination of radioactive carbon dioxide which is extracted during the breakdown of organic substances.