Bacteria found on asteroid was actually Earthly contamination, scientists report
SalonWhen scientists discovered water and a chemical compound common in RNA on a rock from the asteroid Ryugu, astronomy fans and laypeople alike held their collective breath for the chance of extraterrestrial life. “The presence of terrestrial microorganism within a sample of Ryugu underlines that microorganisms are the world's greatest colonizers and adept at circumventing contamination controls,” the authors conclude. “The presence of microorganisms within space-returned samples, even those subject to stringent contamination controls is, therefore, not necessarily evidence of an extraterrestrial origin.” This is not the first time that scientists received false hope about proof of extraterrestrial microorganic life. This time the issue was much simpler — as the authors themselves wrote, “the discovery emphasizes that terrestrial biota can rapidly colonize extraterrestrial specimens even given contamination control precautions.”
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Japan brought rocks from asteroid Ryugu. Earth-based bacteria colonised it
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