The search for life or a habitable planet

Some of the motivation for space exploration has been linked to the study of how life
formed here on Earth, as such is important to fully understand how the planet and
how its atmosphere evolved. Earth is sometimes thought of as an outlier in the solar
system. It has managed to significantly change its atmosphere in such a way that the
right gases have survived. In combination with the right greenhouse gases, Earth is
also situated the right distance to the Sun to warm the planet just enough, but not too
much, to allow liquid water to remain on its surface, to act as a beaker for chemical
reactions and for certain kinds of radiation to permeate through the atmosphere,
allowing life to form.
I keep using the term 'right', but this really relies on our definition of what life is and
how scientists think it came about on Earth. Some of the requirements for life to
exist, as we know it, have long been under discussion by scientists. Often the search
for life is really the search for the existence of complex molecules, such as the
existence of amino acids, which are the basis for proteins. Amino acids are made of
simple, abundant on Earth, elements; hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen.
Carbon in particular is an incredible element with many advantageous attributes,
often referred to as the building block of life.
While the initial atmosphere of Earth might have looked very similar in composition to
Venus and Mars, a secondary atmosphere developed, which contained ammonia,
methane, and water, amongst other things. In the 1950s, Harold Urey and Stanley
Miller conducted an experiment based on the hypothesis that this primitive
atmosphere combined with a liquid water environment is how life started. In a simple
laboratory experiment, they exposed ammonia, methane, hydrogen, and water to an
electrical discharge to kick start any possible reaction. It is believed that really
ultraviolet light from the Sun was the catalyst for the reaction. But at the time, UV
radiation was very hard to produce in a lab.
After a week, the brown substance in their beaker was analysed and was found to
contain amino acids. This experiment demonstrated the possibility for life to have
been present once the planet cooled enough for Earth to support liquid water as a
reaction medium. Of course, this is a long way off from what you might consider life.
But keep in mind, billions of years have passed since this might have happened.
Let's take a step back, though, scientifically, what are the requirements for life?
Since we have no other examples of life, we have to model our assumptions on our
own existence.
These requirements are, one, the presence of carbon, being able to form complex
chemistry; two, the presence of liquid water as a necessary medium for chemical
reactions creating life; and three, the correct environment. For the correct
environment, scientists often use the term habitable zone in which the proposed
planet must lie within. Much of the assumptions going into the habitable zone are
based on the star, the planet orbits, the type of star, longevity, type of radiation given
off, and the atmosphere of the planet, composition, greenhouse effect. With all of
these requirements, Frank Drake developed the so-called Drake Equation to assess
the probability of ever making contact with civilisation. However, not many values are
known in the Drake Equation.
And guesses at the extreme ends of the variables lead to the number of possible
civilisations being 10, as in each planet hosting civilised life are approximately
10,000 light years apart from each other, or 10 to the 9, each planet separated by
only about 15 light years on average. Obviously, there are a number of variables yet
to be figured out. Further scientific exploration of space will help answer these
questions, along with just how unique our planet and its atmosphere really are and
how they came about.

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