"Moon microbes" explained

[The Caspian Hare]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20110506/sc_space/moonmicrobemysteryfinallysolved

The astrobiological upshot as deduced from the unplanned experiment was that 50 to 100 of the microbes appeared to have survived launch, the harsh vacuum of space, three years of exposure to the moon's radiation environment, the lunar deep-freeze at an average temperature of minus 253 degrees Celsius, not to mention no access to nutrients, water or an energy source.

Now, fast forward to today.

<snip>

"The claim that a microbe survived 2.5 years on the moon was flimsy, at best, even by the standards of the time," said John Rummel, chairman of the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) Panel on Planetary Protection. "The claim never passed peer review, yet has persisted in the press -- and on the Internet -- ever since." [Coolest New Moon Discoveries]

The Surveyor 3 camera-team thought they had detected a microbe that had lived on the moon for all those years, "but they only detected their own contamination," Rummel told SPACE.com.

[Just Dave]

Here we go again, with Americans...

[Legaia]

Here we go again, with Americans...

Its not saying anything important, its just debunking ideas of alien microbes from the moon..

[The Silver Thong]

Its not saying anything important, its just debunking ideas of alien microbes from the moon..

I thought it was about microbes put on the moon not retrieved from the moon? Can't blame the little buggers for dieing. They didn't even give them food.

[danielost]

this is about someone who forgot to wash their hands before they opened up the camera here on earth.

but this probable means that microbes cannot survive in space. which means they didnt get here via astroid

Edited May 7, 2011 by danielost

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Here we go again, with Americans...

Jamajkus, I really don't know what you are trying to say here, but it seems rather close to breaking this rule of the site to me:

3a. Racism or hatred: We have zero tolerance for racism or hatred towards any specific race, religion, country, gender, individual or group.

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That's the moderating bit over, now to the story itself.

Its not saying anything important, its just debunking ideas of alien microbes from the moon..

I thought it was about microbes put on the moon not retrieved from the moon?

The Silver Thong is correct. It was believed that these microbes had been carried to the moon on Surveyor III. No one was claiming a discovery of lunar microbes.

It is also very important. If microbes can survive that long in space we run the risk of contaminating places like Mars and Europa, worlds we are interested in looking for alien life on. If we contaminate those worlds it will be impossible to know if life developed independently there or arrived as a result of our incompetence.

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this is about someone who forgot to wash their hands before they opened up the camera here on earth.

but this probable means that microbes cannot survive in space. which means they didnt get here via astroid

How did you manage to get that conclusion from that evidence? Where is the logic behind, "microbes didn't survive this one single occasion on the moon therefore they can't survive in space at all"?

Even a very brief search on Google would have given you the following article:

23 August 2010 Last updated at 12:36

Beer microbes live 553 days outside ISS

A small English fishing village has produced an out-of-this-world discovery.

Bacteria taken from cliffs at Beer on the South Coast have shown themselves to be hardy space travellers.

The bugs were put on the exterior of the space station to see how they would cope in the hostile conditions that exist above the Earth's atmosphere.

And when scientists inspected the microbes a year and a half later, they found many were still alive.

Read more...

In fact you didn't even need to go to Google, as the article was posted on UM: HERE.

Research is your friend Daniel, please try it.

Edited May 7, 2011 by Waspie_Dwarf
typo.

[danielost]

Jamajkus, I really don't know what you are trying to say here, but it seems rather close to breaking this rule of the site to me:

---

That's the moderating bit over, now to the story itself.

The Silver Thong is correct. It was believed that these microbes had been carried to the moon on Surveyor III. No one was claiming a discovery of lunar microbes.

It is also very important. If microbes can survive that long in space we run the risk of contaminating places like Mars and Europa, worlds we are interested in looking for alien life on. If we contaminate those worlds it will be impossible to know if life developed independently there or arrived as a result of our incompetence.

---

How did you manage to get that conclusion from that evidence? Where is the logic behind, "microbes didn't survive this one single occasion on the moon therefore they can't survive in space at all"?

Even a very brief search on Google would have given you the following article:

In fact you didn't even need to go to Google, as the article was posted on UM: HERE.

Research is your friend Daniel, please try it.

i note that only some of them survived, probable the ones strong enough to eat the others to survive. are this going to survive, a million year trip to the next solar system.

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Still not researching then Daniel?

i note that only some of them survived, probable the ones strong enough to eat the others to survive.

The term used was not some, but many. All it takes is one.

Where is your evidence that there was any cannibalism involved? When are you going to learn that science is about evidence and knowledge, not clueless guessing? Did you actually read the whole article before making your guess? If you had bothered to read it you would have noticed this:

Bacterial spores have been known to endure several years in orbit but this is the longest any cells of cyanobacteria, or photosynthesising microbes, have been seen to survive in space.

So no cannibalism there then.

are this going to survive, a million year trip to the next solar system.

Bacteria do not need live for millions of years in order for the panspermia hypothesis to be viable, bacteria can become dormant, returning to life later. Even that is not a requirement, all it needs is that their spores survive.

[Annabis]

Who cares...

[aquatus1]

Pretty much anyone who is serious about travel beyond our world.

[scheming_dreaming]

Here we go again, with Americans...

Pfft, put somebody on the moon then you can complain all you want

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Pfft, put somebody on the moon then you can complain all you want

Enough of the childish bickering please, I have already warned Jamajkus about his comment, I don't wish to have to warn anyone else.

[Cosmic2012]

@daniellost. Some little buggers are a lot tougher than others. They ones we dispatch when we wash our hands are not prime panspermia candidates. Bacterium like the ones that huff sulfur around volcanic vents in the extreme depths of the oceans I say would be much better candidates. This little bit of trivia hardly dispels the theory of panspermia.