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Moon Space

NASA Researchers Think (Microbial) Life Could Survive on the Moon (space.com) 19

Posted by EditorDavid from the out-of-this-world dept.
In less than two years, NASA plans to have astronauts walking on the moon again — the first time in over half a century. "And one potential surprise could be detecting life on the moon," reports Space.com: New research suggests that future visitors to the lunar south pole region should be on the lookout for evidence of life in super-cold permanently shadowed craters — organisms that could have made the trek from Earth. Microbial life could potentially survive in the harsh conditions near the lunar south pole, suggested Prabal Saxena, a planetary researcher at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "One of the most striking things our team has found is that, given recent research on the ranges in which certain microbial life can survive, there may be potentially habitable niches for such life in relatively protected areas on some airless bodies," Saxena told Space.com.

Indeed, the lunar south pole may possess the properties that can enable survival and potentially even episodic growth of certain microbial life, Saxena said. "We're currently working on understanding which specific organisms may be most suited for surviving in such regions and what areas of the lunar polar regions, including places of interest relevant to exploration, may be most amenable to supporting life," he said. In work presented at a recent science workshop on the potential Artemis 3 landing sites, Saxena and study members reported that the lunar south pole may contain substantial surface niches that could be potentially habitable for a number of microorganisms.
While it's possible organic molecules from earth might have been hurled to the moon after a meteor impact, there's a much more likely possibility. A NASA organic geochemist on the study views humans as "the most likely vector, given the extensive data that we have about our history of exploration..." Especially if humans start visiting these temperate radiation-protected sites...
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NASA Researchers Think (Microbial) Life Could Survive on the Moon More

NASA Researchers Think (Microbial) Life Could Survive on the Moon

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  • There isn't any moon food on the moon for them to eat

    • There isn't any moon food on the moon for them to eat

      Nonsense. There is a whole planetoid of green cheese available to them.

      This news tells us that the cheese could contain active cultures.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      Microbes were found on the parts of the Surveyor probe brought back by Apollo 12.

      They might have been contamination from after it was collected, but they might have been there since launch. From memory some of them survived.

      • Oh wow! The Apollo 12 MIGHT have brought microbes back from the moon, or it MIGHT NOT have? Incredible!

        • Oh wow! The Apollo 12 MIGHT have brought microbes back from the moon, or it MIGHT NOT have? Incredible!

          While I (too) generally dislike the "may / may not" construction, it does convey uncertainty w/o preference, whereas simply stating "may" or "may not" does for one outcome or the other. (As noted in several Google search results ...)

    • "There isn't any moon food on the moon for them to eat"

      You mean unlike bears in woods, astronauts do not shit on the Moon?

  • We're talking about areas where the temperature is 110K. Cells that were once living could exist there, and persist for a long time, but wouldn't really be alive.

    • " Cells that were once living could exist there, and persist for a long time, but wouldn't really be alive."

      Prions do not need to be alive to cause death 'as is'.

    • Some archaea can go dormant when environmental conditions become too harsh. I agree that that kind of dormancy isn't strictly alive, as metabolism all but stops. As well, unless they are in some way protected, I would imagine the ionizing radiation would eventually disrupt their DNA, and thus protein production and repair.

      • I certainly don't think they can be called alive if they aren't ever going to end their dormancy because they're on the freezing cold airless moon being bombarded by radiation.
  • "Botany Bay? Oh, no!"
  • There are inevitably tiny pockets of relative stability where organic macromolecules could abide in stasis for a while, but they would fall apart from sheer entropy long before anything would happen to give them usable energy or eject them to a better environment in the solar system. Even if we find them, it won't mean much.

  • Anyway, like I was sayin', microbial life is the fruit of the Moon. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Dey's uh, microbial life-kabobs, microbial life creole, microbial life gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple microbial life, lemon microbial life, coconut microbial life, pepper microbial life, microbial life soup, microbial life stew, microbial life salad, microbial life and potatoes, microbial life burger, microbial life sandwich. That- that's about it.

  • Do you remember when Spacex was going to beat NASA to the moon by a couple years?

    Pepperidge Farms remembers.

  • Microbial life thinks NASA researchers can stick it where the sun don't shine.

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