NASA study: Earth’s life could survive on Mars, at least for a while

This story is part of Welcome to mars, our series exploring the red planet.

Scientists say some microbes from Earth could survive on Mars, at least temporarily, raising new issues and possibilities for future exploration of the Red Planet.

Researchers from NASA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) have sent some microbes into the Earth’s stratosphere, where conditions are surprisingly similar to those on the surface of Mars.

“Some microbes, in particular black mold fungus spores, were able to survive the trip, even when exposed to very high (ultraviolet) radiation,” DLR’s Marta Filipa Cortesão said in a statement.

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Cortesão is one of the lead authors of a new study, published Monday in Frontiers in Microbiology.

It looks like we may never be able to get rid of this pesky black mold. It could even follow humans to another planet, which researchers are concerned about.

“With long-term crewed missions to Mars, we need to know how human microorganisms might survive on the Red Planet, as some may pose a health risk to astronauts,” says Katharina Siems, co-author of the study, DLR. “In addition, certain microbes could be invaluable for space exploration. They could help us produce food and materials independent of Earth, which will be crucial when away from home.”

It’s also important to know what might survive interplanetary travel as we search for life on Mars, to avoid a false positive finding of Martian mold that was truly a stowaway on one of our spaceships.

For the study, the team sent the microbes into the stratosphere inside a specially designed container called the Marsbox (Microbes in Atmosphere for Radiation, Survival and Biological Outcomes experiment) that simulated the pressure and composition of the Martian atmosphere. The box contained one layer protected against radiation and one unshielded.

“This allowed us to separate the effects of the radiation from the other conditions tested: desiccation, atmosphere and temperature fluctuations during flight,” explains Cortesão. “The top layer samples were exposed to over a thousand times more UV rays than the levels that can cause sunburn on our skin.”

Ultimately, the study suggests that among the many challenges involved in exploring Mars, we must add at least one more familiar issue: that stubborn mold that you never seem to get rid of.

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