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Cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov suspects an extraterrestrial origin for bacteria found on the exterior of the ISS:
A Russian cosmonaut claims to have caught aliens. Cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov says he found bacteria clinging to the external surface of the International Space Station that didn't come from the surface of Earth.
Shkaplerov told the Russian news agency that cosmonauts collected the bacteria by swabbing the outside of the space station during space walks years ago.
"And now it turns out that somehow these swabs reveal bacteria that were absent during the launch of the ISS module," Shkapkerov told TASS. "That is, they have come from outer space and settled along the external surface. They are being studied so far and it seems that they pose no danger."
A recent study suggests that interplanetary dust can transport microbes to or from Earth:
Astronomers have long believed that asteroid (or comet) impacts were the only natural way to transport life between planets. However, a new study published November 6 in Astrobiology suggests otherwise.
The study, authored by Professor Arjun Berera from the University of Edinburgh's School of Physics and Astronomy, suggests that life on Earth may have begun when fast-moving streams of space dust carried microscopic organisms to our planet. Berera found that these streams of interplanetary dust are not only capable of transporting particles to Earth, but also from it.
Space Dust Collisions as a Planetary Escape Mechanism (DOI: 10.1089/ast.2017.1662) (DX) (arXiv link above)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 29 2017, @04:19PM (2 children)
The key to ruling out an Earthly origin would be unrecognizable DNA and perhaps chemistry that doesn't match known organisms. Being on the outside of the ISS is not evidence of non-Terran life by itself.
It's also possible it came from another planet but still has DNA and chemistry similar to Terran life, for Earth may have gotten its life from the outside also. But in that case we couldn't really tell the difference because it would share a common ancestor(s).
If they really did find extraterrestrial life, that would be a Yuuuuge discovery; and finally something to justify the station's huge cost.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday November 29 2017, @04:33PM (1 child)
I don't think any space mission has added or integrated a DNA sequencer yet. The technology has gotten cheaper and more compact in recent years but you haven't seen a miniature life detection + genome sequencing instrument on a Mars rover or flown into the geysers of Enceladus or whatever.
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 30 2017, @02:25AM
It would probably have to be verified with sample returns. Even if a DNA sequencer did go into space, the possibility it's merely detecting contamination would be hard to rule out. The context would have to be carefully studied.