Sending Life To Other Planets

Astronomers recently discovered the planet Gliese 581 C, which is 20.5 light years away from us. This planet might actually be able to support earth-type life.

On his Dilbert Blog, Scott Adams jokingly wrote:

"We don’t know if the planet already has life. I suggest we play God and put some there. 20.5 light years is too long for human travel, but we could place some hearty bacteria and whatnot in a probe and fire it in that direction. If there isn’t already life on Gliese 581 C, the bacteria and whatnot can evolve into zebras and Creationists over time. If there already is life on the planet, our bacteria and whatnot will probably infect them and wipe out their civilization. So we might want to put a Mars license plate on the probe."

Today, it is probably beyond the means of even governments to send bacteria to planets outside our solar system. But I bet that in 20 or 30 years it will be possible for rich individuals to do this, so it's probably going to happen.

Just imagine some billionaire sending out billions of small probes that contain radiation resistant bacteria. The probes could be directed at all known planets or just shot randomly away from earth. Some would eventually land on habitable planets. The idea of spreading life on such a scale will surely appeal to the egos of at least a few rich men, especially since the bacteria could incorporate the DNA of its human sender.