Bacteria from Earth can survive in space, study says
CNNCNN — A type of bacteria that is highly resistant to radiation and other environmental hazards survived outside of the International Space Station for three years, according to a new study. The Japanese Tanpopo mission involved including pellets of dried Deinococcus bacteria within aluminum plates that were placed in exposure panels outside of the space station. Study author Akihiko Yamagishi, who is the principal investigator of the Tanpopo space mission, and his team in 2018 used an aircraft and scientific balloons to find Deinococcus bacteria that was actually floating 7.5 miles above Earth’s surface. Based on the scientists’ estimates, bacteria pellets thicker than 0.5 millimeters could survive between 15 and 45 years outside of the space station in low-Earth Orbit. “The results suggest that radioresistant Deinococcus could survive during the travel from Earth to Mars and vice versa, which is several months or years in the shortest orbit,” Yamagishi said.
History of this topic
Bacteria living in space evolve to survive extreme conditions
The Independent
NASA finds new mutant bacteria in SPACE
Daily Mail
Sneaky New Bacteria on the ISS Could Build a Future on Mars
Wired)
Terrestrial microbes could survive briefly on Mars, be a food source for astronauts: Study
Firstpost)
How This Bacteria Survived Outside the ISS for a Year Despite Exposure to Vacuum and Microgravity
News 18)
Space Oddity: Bacteria Could Survive a Cosmic Journey Between Earth and Mars Unprotected
News 18Discover Related
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
