A recent study from France found that the chemical basis for life can form in interstellar ice, expanding on a cutting edge area of research into the origins of life. Electrical energy may also have sparked the beginnings of life on Earth billions of years ago. Earth is around 4.5 billion years old, and the oldest direct fossil evidence of ancient life are stromatolites.

Launched in 1977, Voyager 2 has traveled over 18 billion kilometers, which is an incredible feat. For some background, interstellar space is a place where, according to NASA, is where a "tenuous, hot solar...