[Space] Panspermia and the Campgaign

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by Nereidalbel

If your star system has some ice ball planets and/or moons at the outer reaches, life could evolve in the oceans underneath icy crusts, and occasionally be thrown out into space via geysers. I mean, there has to be a reason tardigrades can survive floating around in space and such...

Also, if any microbial life could go dormant and float around in space for a period of time without needing to hitch a ride on an asteroid or comet, they could feasibly float into an atmosphere without being roasted.

The reason is that "dead" dry things are hard to kill. They survive by desiccating themselves to metabolic stoppage. Damaging living cells is easiest when they're dividing and active. No water to boil, and no mitosis to screw up. Also they can't survive the centuries or millennia it takes to drift to even a close planet.