NASA spacewalkers to swab the ISS for microbial life
- Reference: 1737565332
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/01/22/nasa_spacewalkers_microbes/
- Source link:
Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams should have been back on Earth months ago, but, thanks to issues with Boeing's CST-100 Starliner capsule, are spending some additional time on the ISS before a planned return to Earth in a SpaceX Crew Dragon.
The [1]plan is for the spacewalkers to collect samples from sites near life support system vents on the exterior of the ISS. Scientists will be able to determine if the ISS releases microorganisms and assess whether any can survive in the harsh environment outside the outpost.
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These days, spacecraft and spacesuits are thoroughly sterilized before missions. However, humans carry plenty of microorganisms, and looking at what is collected outside the ISS will inform designs for crewed vehicles and missions to limit the spread of human contamination.
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NASA said: "The data could help determine whether changes are needed to crewed spacecraft, including spacesuits, that are used to explore destinations where life may exist now or in the past."
[5]Japan's wooden satellite exits International Space Station
[6]Axiom Space shuffles space station assembly sequence – to get it standalone sooner
[7]Stranded in space: Starliner crew to remain in orbit even longer as SpaceX faces delays
[8]SpaceX Dragon gives ISS a helping hand with altitude
With Mars now a priority for crewed expeditions, minimizing human contamination on the surface is crucial to avoid misidentifying it as traces of life on the red planet.
Many space agencies take the challenge of planetary protection very seriously. As an example, the European Space Agency (ESA) [9]cites Article IX of the Outer Space Treaty, which requires care to be taken during exploration of the Moon and beyond "so as to avoid their harmful contamination and also adverse changes in the environment of the Earth resulting from the introduction of extra-terrestrial matter and, where necessary, [to] adopt appropriate measures for this purpose."
This also involves considering missions launched under less stringent standards than those in place today. Older spacecraft, for example, were not always subject to the same sterilization.
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Memorably, a camera on NASA's Surveyor 3 lander, which the Apollo 12 astronauts retrieved, was [11]found to have been contaminated [PDF] prior to launch. Despite vacuum testing, exposure to temperatures below -100° Celsius, and a stint on the lunar surface, scientists found that the microorganisms on the camera had survived. ®
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[1] https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/astronauts-set-to-swab-the-exterior-of-station-for-microbial-life/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Z5F4iFT_NBH7OIo9fHu0PAAAAcE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Z5F4iFT_NBH7OIo9fHu0PAAAAcE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
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[5] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/08/japans_wooden_satellite_leaves_the/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2024/12/19/axiom_space_shuffles_station_assembly/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2024/12/19/spacex_delayed_boeing_crew/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2024/11/11/spacex_dragon_iss_boost/
[9] https://technology.esa.int/page/planetary-protection
[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Z5F4iFT_NBH7OIo9fHu0PAAAAcE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[11] https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19720019081/downloads/19720019081.pdf
[12] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: oh goody
You are Victor Carroon and I claim my five pounds!
Re: oh goody
They've already brought space bacteria back. The Apollo 12 astronauts brought parts from Surveyor 3 back from the moon where they had been sitting for several years. When scientists looked at the parts they found them contaminated with bacteria leftover from the probes construction. The bacteria were still alive.
Who did they piss off at NASA?
Butch & Sunni get all the shit jobs.
Re: Who did they piss off at NASA?
It's punishment for saying If it's Boeing, I ain't going" after they arrived.
"With Mars now a priority for crewed expeditions"
Did I miss a memo?
Re: "With Mars now a priority for crewed expeditions"
One of Trump's many brain farts.
Metorites
The Earth has been hit many times by large meteorites (eg the dinosaur killer). Many of these impacts have been large enough to eject debris from the Earth that could hit other solar system objects.
Given the toughness of many microbes, other planets must have been contaminated by microbes carried on such Earth originated meteorites.
It is currently thought that Mars still had liquid water up to around 3 billion years ago. Earth has had life for over 3.7 billion years. This implies a period of several hundred million years when both Earth and Mars could host life. During that period both Earth and Mars would have been hit by many object large enough to eject rocks (with bacterial passengers) to the other planet.
This leads to an interesting question - did life originate on Earth and contaminate Mars or did it originate on Mars and then contaminate Earth
The icon seems fitting ==========>
oh goody
Great, let's bring back some mutated space bacteria. I see no possible ways this could go badly!