PLANKTON found in space: Sea creatures are discovered living on the exterior of the ISS

a reply to: loam


Great find Loam!

Providing this all checks out, what a coup!

I only have one thing to add....

They claim the plankton were not carried there at launch – but are thought to have been blown there by air currents on Earth.

Oh really...care to explain how the Simpsons know about all this?



Ok, so they not exactly like plankton, but hey...it's evolution baby!

But seriously, plankton from Earth in space?

I'm far more inclined to believe these plankton have never been to our fair planet surface, before I'll believe the little guys have been whipped up by the prevailing earth winds.

Oh, oh extra thought, does this not increase the chances that these guys might be on Mars?

If so, then Martians are real.

And what eats space plankton? Space jellyfish do.

originally posted by: zysin5
a reply to: loam

Thanks for the post Loam! Very interesting indeed.

They claim the plankton were not carried there at launch – but are thought to have been blown there by air currents on Earth.

So they really do not know for sure just yet?
Blown by air currents into outer space? Am I missing something there?

Is the ISS in atmosphere? I thought it was in the vacuum of space?

brownian motion and other events knock stuff from the upper atmosphere into space. it's how mars lost most of it's oxygen. the Earth loses oxygen too but much slower because of factors like greater gravity, magnetic shields and so on. i suppose an energy impulse could do the same thing to any microbes or spores. things like cosmic rays passing near by would create an upwelling of atmospheric density in the vicinity and that would propel stuff like a high pressure hose. (more like stuff on the surface of water getting splashed along for the ride.)

Loam what are your thoughts about this? I would LOVE to hear your answer!

Scientists detect carbon dioxide accumulation at the edge of space

A team of scientists from the Naval Research Laboratory, Old Dominion University, and the University of Waterloo reports the first direct evidence that emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) caused by human activity are propagating upward to the highest regions of the atmosphere. The observed CO2 increase is expected to gradually result in a cooler, more contracted upper atmosphere and a consequent reduction in the atmospheric drag experienced by satellites.

The ISS is maintained in a nearly circular orbit with a minimum mean altitude of 330 km (205 mi) and a maximum of 410 km (255 mi), in the centre of the Thermosphere.


Phytoplankton produce oxygen through photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is the process that plants use to produce their own food, most of us now that. The plankton are using the energy from the sun to convert this carbon dioxide from the air into sugar molecules.

The enhanced cooling produced by the increasing CO2 should result in a more contracted thermosphere, where many satellites, including the International Space Station, operate. The contraction of the thermosphere will reduce atmospheric drag on satellites and may have adverse consequences for the already unstable orbital debris environment, because it will slow the rate at which debris burn up in the atmosphere.

You've got sun and carbon dioxide, it seems possible. No? What more do you need?

And if these are on the ISS, how many other satellites may contain something of interest?

Gives a huge reason to start reclaiming some of our space garbage and retired satellites instead of launching them into the surface of our moon.

This is great, imagining that possibly they originated in space and that our concept of an unlivable environment is being challenged. I know it's quite the jump but I'm picturing space as a vast sea that could have its own plethora of creatures that aren't bound to a planet, able to survive like its own ecosystem.

a reply to: zysin5

The ISS is in the atmosphere, it is low earth orbit, it is close to a vacuum I think but not like deep space .

a reply to: loam

The water's above the firmament is what immediately sprang to mind, very interesting though if it is proven not a hoax and obviously impossible unless these are something quite different to terrestrial plankton as plankton still need nuitriant's to metabolise and though some bacterial spores can exist in space plankton are far larger and susceptible to UV radiation so without an atmosphere, no obvious source of nutrient's (Sunlight is merely the energy for the metabolic process but cell's need fuel) how in the heaven's are they alive?.

Also since like all cellular organism's they must have cytoplasm how have there cell wall's kept the organism from rupturing in space or it's cytoplasm from evaporation away in bright hot sunlight, very, very interesting.

the known space ecosystem is now complete in the sense that there is a prey item and a predator that can survive in space. Tardigrades like the water bear eat plankton and water bears have been shown to survive outside the ISS hull exposed to vacuum, extremes of space heat and cold and radiation.

now we know they can get to space on their own. which means they could get to the oceans of Europa. and if they did they could establish a viable ecology there.

a reply to: LABTECH767

perhaps they are feeding on a yet smaller lifeform waiting to be discovered

funbox

a reply to: defcon5

Gotcha. Thanks for putting that post there for me. I was not sure what I was missing there, but that seems to make the most logical sense to me at the moment. But as it stands. The experts still are unsure. But is something I will keep an eye on for sure.

From phinubian
The ISS is in the atmosphere, it is low earth orbit, it is close to a vacuum I think but not like deep space .

Okay cool, yeah I was not 100% sure on that, so thought I would ask. Makes sense.

a reply to: stormbringer1701
Thanks for the answer

a reply to: loam

Congrats loam!
Hopefully this story holds True...Really fantastic, Plus it's feels an awful lot like a Steven King story in the making

tom

a reply to: loam

S&F great thread. Very exciting news. If it is extra-terrestrial even more profound.
Nonetheless it is a story filled with possibilities.
To add a little ATS to the post,
"what questions would arise if the ebola virus was found amongst the 'plankton'?"

Interesting times indeed!

I really hope this is confirmed to be true as it would make a fantastically interesting story indeed. I'd be very intrigued to discover the mechanics of the processes which took these plankton so high into the upper atmosphere, and the reasons they have been able to survive in such a harsh environment.

I've always been one to think that the law of averages - if nothing else - dictates that there must not only be some extraterrestrial life in the universe, but an abundance of it. In all likelihood, we may well simply be a meaningless speck on a map far bigger than any of us can comprehend, but I digress.

Regardless, it's great to know that some life other than ourselves and the animals we have sent up have made it to the heavens above. Great post again, thank you.

This is awesome. Could it lend creedence to the theory that organisms can be blown through space and land on other planets?

Nice find! Saying that they came from earth and to how far could they be spreading. It'd probably be similar on other planets with possible life.

a reply to: smithjustinb

I wonder if any plankton blew from Mars to Earth billions of years ago.

I have always had a hunch that life started on Mars. Went through a complete life and death cycle, and then in some form or another, started here on Earth. And thus our life and death cycle starts. I do feel small lifeforms can thrive and live in outer space, and make trips from like Mars to Earth via Asteroids. Those asteroids then become meteors that fall to Earth bringing the components for life to take shape from their smallest forms. Interesting thoughts. As we are thinking solar winds and such, and the movements in outer space. Not really sure how that works in the nuts and bolts aspect. But seems plausible.

This may be slightly off topic, but when we go to Mars, I wonder if we will uncover a civilization that once thrived upon Mars. Even after millions of years, most of it has turned into dust. But if there was anything, it would be buried under miles of dirt and rock.
Makes one wonder however.

It has been expected that anthropogenic CO2 increases are propagating upward throughout the entire atmosphere. Before the study of ACE data, CO2 trends had been measured only up to 35 km altitude, although indirect evidence from satellite drag studies indicates that the thermosphere is indeed slowly contracting.

WE are the reason CO2 has even made it to the ISS in the first place according to my last post.

This is NOT a natural occurrence and these plankton are only living on the ISS because we gave them the right conditions to be there.

Sorry Slayer, no panspermia.

a reply to: Silcone Synapse

Tardigrades

Yeah! That's what I was just thinking!
"Water Bears" - as in Hecate/Small Menace's avatar....

From the Daily Mail article...

Experts claim that the plankton were not carried there at launch, because they are marine microorganisms not indigenous to the blast-off site in Kazakhstan – but are thought to have been blown there by air currents on Earth.

Sea plankton were not carried by the craft as they aren't native to Baikonur in Kazakhstan, where the Russian modules of the station blasted off

It seems somebody is forgetting the 30+ missions the Space Shuttle flew to assemble/resupply the ISS and that all of the shuttle launches took place on the coast....

originally posted by: loam
a reply to: Crakeur

originally posted by: Crakeur
Congrats Loam, I believe you get the honor of the very first post that shows confirmation of life in outer space. Granted, it's not extraterrestrial but it ain't human.

Most excellent.

Is there a cash prize?

If it actually confirmed by NASA as extra-terrestrial this year I will win a bet I placed last year on extra-terrestrial life being proven in 2014 with my bookmaker.
I GOT 100/1
Even if they are hostile and wipe us out, I'll have beaten the house!

'In your face! flesh eating, human destroying space microbe punks" shakes fist at the sky!