Researchers test Earth microbes in simulations of extreme space environments

Scientists from the University of Vienna and NASA have tested whether Earth microbes can survive in space conditions. One experiment simulated the ocean inside Enceladus, a moon of Saturn. A microbe called Methanothermococcus okinawensis, which lives near underwater volcanoes on Earth, survived these conditions. It also kept producing methane from hydrogen and carbon dioxide, the same chemicals found in Enceladus geysers.

A second experiment tested microbes commonly found on spacecraft and human skin in conditions matching three regions near the Moon's South Pole. Results showed that microbes could survive in shadowed craters for weeks or months. The biggest dangers were heat and UV radiation. Some fungi survived even where radiation was present, entering a dormant state where they could not move or grow.