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Is it possible that life exists on other planets? This is an issue that has been a concern for scientists for years. Recent scientific research has revealed more and more secrets of our solar system, but we still have not found concrete evidence of life in space. But a new research project proved that it was definitely not impossible.
Terrestrial organisms survived for 533 days in space, glued to the outside of the International Space Station (ISS). The German Aerospace Center (DLR) led the experiment called BIOMEX. The long-term research project saw organisms such as bacteria, algae, lichens and fungi exposed to conditions similar to those of Mars when they were attached to the ISS. The results even impressed the researchers themselves.
Hard like lichen nails
"Some organisms and biomolecules have shown tremendous resistance to radiation in space and have returned to Earth as" survivors "of space," said astrobiologist Jean-Pierre Paul de Vera de DLR Global Research Institute Berlin-Adlershof.
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"In particular, we have studied the archaea, unicellular microorganisms that have existed on Earth for more than three and a half billion years and live in salty seawater." Our "test subjects" are members of their families who have been isolated in the Arctic permafrost, have survived in space and are also detectable with our instruments, such unicellular organisms could be candidates for life forms that can be found on Mars. "
Life on Mars is possible
The main purpose of the experiment was to see if the living beings of the Earth could survive in the extreme environments encountered in space. The results prove that this can happen without a doubt. The study gives new hope that we could still discover life on the red planet.
"Of course, that does not mean that life actually exists on Mars," Vera said quickly. "But the search for life is more than ever the most powerful engine of the next generation of missions to Mars." Theoretically, it is widely accepted that life on Mars is possible. During the decade, space research has revealed some of the key ingredients needed such as the atmosphere, elements such as carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, the Sulfur and phosphorus, and even water, at least in the form of ice, but no research based on Mars has yet found life.
ISS Host Samples
The BIOMEX experiment started on August 18, 2014 when Russian cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev placed several hundred samples in a specially designed experiment container outside the Russian ISS Zvezda module.
They contained primitive terrestrial organisms such as mosses, lichens, fungi, bacteria, archaea ("primitive bacteria") and algae, as well as cell membranes and pigments. Some were squeezed into Mars soil samples with an artificial March atmosphere.
Samples examined by range of astrobiologists
A week later, the protective envelopes of the containers were removed and the specimens were exposed to the space environment. The space is a big vacuum with intense ultraviolet radiation and important temperature changes.
"Once again, the ISS has provided the ideal conditions for an experiment that can only be done in limited space," said de Vera.
On February 3, 2016, the samples were placed back in an envelope and introduced inside the ISS by cosmonauts Yuri Malenchenko and Sergei Volkov. On June 18, 2016, the samples made their long journey back to Earth with ESA astronaut Tim Peake aboard a Soyuz spacecraft.
The samples were then distributed on the DLR Cologne site and to BIOMEX scientists from 30 research institutes in 12 countries on three continents. The results of all these different examinations were collected in 42 peer-reviewed articles. The journal Astrobiology devoted a special issue to BIOMEX in February. This week, the results of the experiment are presented in Berlin at a special conference.
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