As scientists search for other planets with the potential for life, some are concerned that bacteria from Earth could beat them to the punch.
According to NASA researcher Kasthuri Venkateswaran, particularly tough bugs may be able to climb onto spacecraft and survive a trip to Mars, the Daily Mail reported. Scientists should keep an eye out for these bacteria while investigating for life on other planets.
In a recent study, bacteria were exposed to a space environment for a year and a half on the European Technology Exposure Facility.
"After testing exposure to the simulated Mars environment, we wanted to see what would happen in real space and EuTEF gave us the chance," Venkateswaran said. 'To our surprise, some of the spores survived for 18 months."
Spacecraft traveling to other parts of our solar system have to be thoroughly cleaned before making the trip; however, Venkateswaran has pointed out that some level of bacteria remains on the spacecraft and some bugs could potentially live through the journey.
"If you are able to reduce the numbers to acceptable levels, a proxy for cleanliness, the assumption is that the life forms will not survive under harsh space conditions," said Venkateswaran, as quoted by the Daily Mail.
The acceptable levels of bacteria are based on research examining how different organisms respond to space travel, but Bacillus pumilus has exhibited high resistance to ultraviolet radiation, peroxide treatment and other methods used to clean spacecraft.
The bugs seem to be especially resilient to UV radiation, a quality that may help scientists figure out why the bacteria can tough it out in hostile Earth environments. Besides the EuTEF test, two other studies have shown that the organisms can survive in space.
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