Elon Musk recently tweeted a response to a letter written by a 13-year-old boy. The boy asked Musk “Do you think there is life on other planets?” Musk pointed out that there is no evidence for extraterrestial life in our solar system yet. However, he did say that there is a possibility of life on Europa or Mars.
Musk also told the boy to read about the Drake Equation.
The Drake equation estimates the likelihood of another civilization existing in the Milky Way Galaxy. It is a probablistic calculation based on the number of stars, planets, and likely habitable planets. It is an interesting theory but controversial because it is based on speculation.
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Musk is well known for his desire to colonize Mars.
He founded Space X to develop technology to colonize Mars . Depite these science-fiction aspirations, Musk does not believe in aliens. He said on Twitter that there is no evidence for aliens.
This does not mean that extraterrestrial life doesn’t exist in the solar system.
Mars, for example, may have, or have had, life. Water seems to be key to life. Although we are not sure how much liquid water Mars has today, there is evidence it had water in the past . This makes Mars a prime candidate for extraterrestrial life.
Europa is another interesting candidate.
Europa may have an ocean larger than the oceans on Earth under its surface. NASA’s spacecraft Galileo detected a magnetic field on the moon that indicates the moon may have a large salty ocean. The moon may even have geological activity that warms the ocean. Europa could have ecosystems much like the ones found around hydrothermal vents on Earth.
The possibility of other lifeforms in the solar system is exciting!
But much more science is needed. We are even finding evidence for life on Venus . Although there is no solid proof yet, we are only one major discovery away from confirming life outside of earth.
