Samples collected from the asteroid Ryugu have been inundated with forms of life from Earth after being brought to our planet.
While humanity has yet to “colonize” extraterrestrial worlds, bacteria have already beaten us to it.
According to Space, the samples from the asteroid Ryugu, collected by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), were “invaded” before researchers could conduct further analysis.
Image of asteroid Ryugu captured by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft (Photo: JAXA).
The “culprits” are none other than filamentous bacteria, which are very common in soil and rock environments on Earth.
Researchers discovered that within one week of bringing the sample into Earth’s atmosphere, 11 types of bacteria had already settled on its surface. Just a week later, the number of these “settlers” increased to 147.
“It’s surprising to find bacteria in extraterrestrial rock samples,” said Matthew Genge, the lead researcher from Imperial College London.
“We typically clean meteorite samples, and bacteria rarely appear on them. However, just a single bacterial spore is enough to trigger an invasion.”
Although these results do not provide any concrete information about extraterrestrial life, they demonstrate the ability of terrestrial life forms, particularly microorganisms, to thrive and endure.
These findings also have implications for the impacts that spacecraft, rovers, or exploration objects may have on the planets they visit.
“Microorganisms can easily metabolize and survive on extraterrestrial materials,” the research team emphasized. “This could lead to new discoveries regarding space environmental contamination. It also shows that terrestrial microorganisms have the potential to rapidly invade.”
The Hayabusa2 spacecraft approached asteroid Ryugu in June 2018. The spacecraft then spent a year studying the asteroid, which has a diameter of about 900 meters, before drilling through its surface and collecting samples.
This “priceless” sample was returned to Earth in December 2020, but the mission team continues to study it to this day.
