BBC News - Dinosaur asteroid 'sent life to Mars'
The asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs may have catapulted life to Mars and the moons of Jupiter, US researchers say.
They calculated how many Earth rocks big enough to shelter life were ejected by asteroids in the last 3.5bn years.
The Chicxulub impact was strong enough to fire chunks of debris all the way to Europa, they write in Astrobiology.
Thousands of potentially life-bearing rocks also made it to Mars, which may once have been habitable, they add.
"We find that rock capable of carrying life has likely transferred from both Earth and Mars to all of the terrestrial planets in the solar system and Jupiter," says lead author Rachel Worth, of Penn State University.
"Any missions to search for life on Titan or the moons of Jupiter will have to consider whether biological material is of independent origin, or another branch in Earth's family tree."
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