Astronaut Microbes Might Survive at Moon's Pole, NASA Warns

Astronaut Microbes Might Survive at Moon's Pole, NASA Warns
By Laurence Tognetti, MSc (https://ift.tt/erR6cvo)

One of the primary objectives of space exploration that often gets overlooked is the intense effort that goes into ensuring Earth microbes don’t contaminate planetary objects, also called forward contamination. This is done to prevent contaminating any potential life that might be present could get killed off my Earth microbes and scientists don’t want to make false discoveries. While space radiation and extreme temperatures often kill off any pesky microbes that hitch a ride on spacecraft, there remains a longstanding knowledge gap regarding whether microbes could survive the lunar polar regions due to its deep craters and varying topography.

August 28, 2026 at 07:21AM
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