NASA Astrobiology

Remote detection is sometimes a pain

The engineering’s a strain on the brain

But we’ll labor for years

And even sometimes through tears

All this work just to sniff some methane

And so NASA says follow the water

But most everywhere’s colder or hotter

So to find worlds in the zone

Like to Goldilocks known

Is going to need a really good spotter

If we do find some microbes on Mars

Will they toast us in all of the bars?

Or will public opinion

And false claims of dominion

Insist we’re really alone in the stars?

Sweet Europa is covered in ice

And its atmosphere’s not very nice

But the high radiation

May spark funny causation

Like swimming schools of mutated mice

To search for a habitable zone

You’ve got to get off of your phone

It takes rockets and scopes,

Math, spectra, and hopes

To find hints that we’re not all alone

Will we one day be living on Mars?

And if so, will we drive Martian cars?

They should not run on gas

Such a move would be crass

Let’s not bring our mistakes to the stars.

Updated: October 5, 2022

Six Limericks of Astrobiology