NASA Scientist Believes Moon’s South Pole May Harbor Microbial Life

• A NASA planetary scientist says conditions on the moon’s south pole may be ripe for microbial life.
• Researchers have found that some microbes on Earth can survive extreme conditions.
• These microbes may have captured the lunar lander and are now living on the moon.

Compared to Earth, the Moon is a lonely place. Free from water currents, faint clouds, and signs of life. Except, a NASA scientist believes there is more to the Moon than meets the eye.

Prabal SaxenaMicrobial life can exist in extreme environments like on the moon, says a planetary scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

“There may be a suitable habitat for such life in a relatively sheltered area somewhere where there is no air,” said Prabal Saxena. Space.com reports.

It’s likely that this lunar microbe, if there is one, originated on Earth and aboard the lunar lander.

Studi Saxena Where alien life may exist beyond our solar system, but he recently worked with the team that has a closer look at home – the south pole of the moon.

The moon’s south pole contains icy craters and the potential for microbial life

The moon’s south pole has gotten a lot of attention in recent years because that’s where NASA hopes to land Astronaut Artemis III in 2025. Agency identified 13 possible landing sites:

No human has ever set foot on the south pole of the moon. But we know from NASA’s Moon Mineralology Mapper Snow filled Inside the crater, which astronauts can drill for rocket fuel.

Some areas of this crater live in perpetual darkness, always in shadow. As a result, the sun’s harmful rays never reach these lunar pockets, and may become safe havens. serious microbe.

“Importantly, recent studies of the survival of microbes exposed to conditions such as those found on the lunar surface show surprising resistance of many microorganisms to such conditions,” Saxena said in recent work, according to Leonard David di Inside Outer Space.

For example, researchers found that a bacterium called Deinococcus radiodurans survived outside the International Space Station for a year. Tardigrades also survive outside the International Space Station, exposed to the harsh conditions of outer space.

“We are currently working to understand which specific organisms are best suited to survive in the area,” Saxena told Space.com.

Even if microbes don’t currently exist on the moon, they almost certainly will if humans start exploring its surface. And if Saxena and his team are right, these microbes could not only survive, but potentially reproduce, in these permanently encrusted craters, according to Space.com.