Washington [US], August 22: New research by NASA scientists looking at five forms of fungi and bacteria indicates that some of them indeed could survive for a time under certain conditions on the lunar surface - a finding that raises concerns about unintended life transfer to the moon, Reuters reported.
These microbes were tested in modeling simulations of three regions near the lunar South Pole - Nobile Rim, Connecting Ridge and de Gerlache Rim - using environmental conditions based on observations by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and data on radiation exposure.
The simulations indicated that some of the microbes could survive for periods of weeks to months in certain areas - such as inside craters that remain permanently shadowed - and during particular seasons - autumn and winter, according to planetary scientist Prabal Saxena of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.
Aspergillus flourishes in warm and damp places like bathrooms and heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems. Astronauts have found it inside the International Space Station. Experiments have shown it can even survive outside the station while in orbit.
The researchers also studied several species of Fusarium, a common soil-borne fungus.
"Aspergillus was the most well-suited to survive in regions of the lunar poles. Fusarium was similarly resilient, though not to the extent of Aspergillus," said Saxena, lead author of the study published this week in the journal Science Advances.
"Our study focused only on the survival of these cells, not their growth or reproduction," said Goddard Space Flight Center organic geochemist and study co-author Heather Graham.
"But there are scenarios where cells can get buried, which would keep them warm and protected from radiation. There may also be scenarios where pockets of liquid water could form, which would potentially help the organisms grow," Graham said.
These microbes could affect resources such as water - present as ice in some places on the moon - that are potentially useful for astronauts, the researchers said.
The study did not look at whether lunar conditions could cause mutations making the microbes more dangerous as pathogens.
"The study merely looked at cellular persistence and not mutation so we can't extend these results to include any details of future pathogenicity," Graham said.
Source: Emirates News Agency
