Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: the microbes that visit Mars

Microbes from Earth could potentially survive on the surface of the infamous Red Planet for a short period of time. Research conducted by NASA (Washington DC, USA) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR; Cologne, Germany) and published in Frontiers in Microbiology has shown that certain microbes from Earth can live temporarily on the surface of Mars. Microbes were launched into the stratosphere of Earth, where the conditions are similar to those on Mars, and their endurance was monitored. The study could provide information on the impact microbes have on space missions, as well as the possibility of outsourcing resources from...