Sea Plankton Found Outside International Space Station

August 20th, 2014

Via: Stuff:

It’s not quite extraterrestrial life, but scientists have discovered sea plankton growing in space.

Russian space officials have confirmed traces of plankton and other micro-organisms were found living on the exterior of the International Space Station (ISS), and it appears they’ve been living there for years.

Russian astronaut Olek Artemyev and Alexander Skvortsov made the discovery after a routine spacewalk around the ISS, during which they took samples from illuminators on its surface, Russian news agency ITAR-TASS reported overnight.

High-precision equipment later revealed the presence of micro-organisms on the wipes.

Space officials claimed the plankton were not carried there at launch, but are thought to have been blown over by air currents on Earth.

The particles, invisible to the naked eye, were able to survive in the vacuum of space, despite zero gravity, freezing temperatures, lack of oxygen, and cosmic radiation.

2 Responses to “Sea Plankton Found Outside International Space Station”

  1. mangrove says:

    The particles, invisible to the naked eye, were able to survive in the vacuum of space, despite zero gravity, freezing temperatures, lack of oxygen, and cosmic radiation.

    Really?

  2. Dennis says:

    Makes me wonder if any of these little critters have made it to other planets.

    :)…If I put on my tinfoil hat, extra-terrestrial dispersion of life in this manner and ideas like it, i.e. the seeding of Earth ‘Prometheus’-style, or as in the Star Trek episode ‘The Chase’, could provide a cover explanation for ‘aliens’ having a humanoid appearance.

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