Shape-shifting' bacteria spotted on International Space Station

a reply to: Bluntone22

Maybe in near-zero gravity they are closer to the source?
More than one space flyer has reported alterations in the way they view things.
After all, the higher you get up the mountain the better view.

(The vague word "things" implies the seen and the not seeable.)

a reply to: CriticalStinker

I don't think that's what they are referring to here. It's merely how they respond in zero G. They are not exposed to the vacuum of space which I believe they could not survive.

a reply to: RMFX1

Its known that bacteria, microbes, viruses and tardigrades can and have survived in the vacuum of space.

originally posted by: Bluntone22
a reply to: PublicOpinion

To be honest, I think mankind's biggest threat will be a global pandemic.
Climate change will not do anywhere near the harm of a nasty influenza outbreak like the one after ww1.

We did have plagues in the past due to people not knowing about bacteria, viruses, sneezing, coughing, fleas, rats, antibiotics, contaminated water, refrigeration and all others sorts of hygiene. The Greeks had some weird disease where citizens would literally disintegrate before their doctor; skin and fat disintegrating leaving just behind sinews.

But as we move into ever higher densities and mass public transit, there's always the risk. I used to take public transport to get to work in my college days, and every October, I would get some weird respiratory crap. Made the mistake of not jumping off the bus when the person behind me started coughing, and ended up nearly choking to death on green gunk. Now, I'll just get off the bus at the first stop.

Shape-shifting' bacteria on International Space Station

Nuke it in orbit, it's the only way to be sure...

originally posted by: RMFX1
a reply to: CriticalStinker

I don't think that's what they are referring to here. It's merely how they respond in zero G. They are not exposed to the vacuum of space which I believe they could not survive.

NASA and others aren't exactly sure if a microbe can or cannot survive a flight through the vacuum of space. Some think it is possible for bacteria to lie remain dormant on a spacecraft (let's say a Mars Rover) and eventually return to viability if proper conditions arise (water, energy source, etc).

NASA takes this idea of "forward contamination" (Earth rovers contaminating Mars) very seriously and does what they can to prevent it, although the Mars rovers almost certainly took Earth bacteria along for the ride; the question still remains if those bacteria are still viable.


Another example of NASA's attempt to prevent forward contamination can be seen real soon (this Friday, Sept 15) when they intentionally "crash" the Cassini probe into Saturn. NASA has chosen to do this because they want to keep the Saturn System -- particularly Enceladus and Titan -- free of biological contamination.

If they kept Cassini in orbit indefinitely, it would have run out of maneuvering fuel, which could have possibly led to it crashing on Enceladus or Titan, and potentially contaminating them with Earth microorganisms -- and nobody is quite sure if those microorganisms may return to viability on those worlds (especially the warm sub-surface ocean of Enceladus).

NASA wants Enceladus and Titan to remain pristine so when we finally do investigate these worlds in the future, any life we find there would definitely be life from there. If Cassini crashed into Enceladus, and we later found microorganisms there (even dead ones), there would be no way to know for sure if they were native to Enceladus or they were carried there from Earth by Cassini.

I suppose they are less concerned about the potential for Cassini to contaminate Saturn itself.

Cassini Grand Finale

a reply to: Soylent Green Is People

Exposed directly to the vacuum of space and intense solar and UV radiation? Extraordinarily unlikely for them to survive, if I remember right we did that test on that massive bus sized satellite we sent up into orbit: Long Duration Exposure Facility (which actually stayed up there for many more years then it was intended to, the results were even better).

Now if they're nicely covered up in a chunk of rock (maybe even inside several enclosed/sealed parts of a probe/sat, even close to an RTG or thermal radiators if the probe/sat has them) and protected from the direct solar/uv radiation that is a different matter, they have a very good chance at survival, and if they're given a little bit of food (glucose etc), they have an extremely good shot of surviving in high percentages.

We did some of those test a while back - the US sent several rockets into space and back fast through the atmosphere to test those theories, the Panspermia theory became a heck lot more credible after those tests and from the LDEF results.

originally posted by: RMFX1
a reply to: CriticalStinker

I don't think that's what they are referring to here. It's merely how they respond in zero G. They are not exposed to the vacuum of space which I believe they could not survive.

Many people believe many things.

Bacteria taken from the scrumptiously named fishing village of Beer on Britain's south coast have proven themselves some of the hardiest organisms on Earth -- or in space for that matter. Bacteria found in rocks taken from the cliffs at Beer have survived a grueling year-and-a-half exposure to space conditions on the exterior of the ISS and returned home alive, becoming the longest-lived photosynthesizing microbes to survive in space.

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