It is not imperative that we find conscious life in space. The odds of doing so are remote because of distances that are probably impossible to travel . Planets having life are probably so far apart that it would take thousands if not billions of years to reach them by robot, possibly to the failure of all radio signals, solar batteries, nuclear doo-dads and technical trash that we can devise. But we can surely take comfort in what we can learn from our practical reaches into space in the coming milleniums. Before and After The eternal nature of our universe should by now be evident in many ways.
Time is certainly eternal.
Further it would be absurd to propose that the big bang was the beginning of physics. Even the big bang would have a cause resulting from a lengthy history of events. I will leave the mysteries of life up to science and all manner of hard working thinkers. Three things are evident. They are birth, death and the profoundly sublime mystery of existence.