Spores also allow bacteria to stay alive in a dormant state for incredible lengths of time. The record on Earth is a spore that formed before the age of the dinosaurs and was recently resuscitated after a 250 million years’ sleep.
You know that, that spores can survive in theory for millions and millions of years, but to actually see evidence of a spore being revived is pretty fantastic.
The final hurdle for panspermia is the fiery touchdown on the surface of the Earth.