As the space industry increasingly mobilizes to explore our solar system and shed new light on the cosmos, the prospect of encountering extraterrestrial life becomes less of a pipe dream and more of a real possibility.

Space agencies and private companies have proposed several missions to locations that could harbor alien life, including the surfaces of planets and their icy moons.

While the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute primarily looks out to the distant stars, NASA and other organizations are searching within our solar system to see if there might be signs of microbial extraterrestrial life closer to home. Here are some of the prime candidates in the search for alien life in our solar system.

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