NASA 'cleanrooms' found crawling with 26 new bacterial species
Wait, aren't "clean" rooms supposed to be, well, "clean" of germs and other pesky microscopic particles?
Maybe not: A new study reports 26 new bacterial species were found growing inside cleanrooms associated with NASA space missions. Specifically, scientists looked in the cleanrooms used to prepare the Phoenix Mars lander for its August 2007 launch.
In the study, scientists analyzed microorganisms growing in the NASA cleanrooms, and discovered many of the new species possessed genes that made them resilient to decontamination and radiation.
"We are unraveling the mysteries of microbes that withstand the extreme conditions of space – organisms with the potential to revolutionize the life sciences, bioengineering, and interplanetary exploration," said Kasthuri Venkateswaran, retired senior research scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and a lead author of the study, in a statement.
Spacecraft are assembled in cleanrooms, which are highly specialized facilities engineered to maintain exceptionally low levels of dust and microorganisms.
Cleanrooms are key as spacecraft are built and tested: Even tiny particles or contamination can impact delicate instruments and sensitive components.
These controlled environments are extreme in their own right, with tightly regulated airflow, temperature and humidity that inhibit microbial survival. However, some microorganisms – known as "extremophiles" – thrive in such environments.
"Our study aimed to understand the risk of extremophiles being transferred in space missions and to identify which microorganisms might survive the harsh conditions of space," said study team member Alexandre Rosado from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia.
"This effort is pivotal for monitoring the risk of microbial contamination and safeguarding against unintentional colonization of exploring planets," he added.
These previously unknown and newly described species carry genetic traits associated with resilience to extreme environments such as those found in space.
Some of the discovered genes were associated with DNA repair, the detoxification of harmful molecules and improved metabolism, all of which increased the species' survivability.
Scientists said these genes could lead to new biotechnologies that benefit food preservation and medicine. "These findings not only raise important considerations for planetary protection but also open the door for biotechnological innovation," said Junia Schultz, a postdoctoral fellow at KAUST, who was the first author of the study.
"Space travel provides an opportunity to study microorganisms that possess relevant stress-resistance genes," Schultz added. "The genes identified in these newly discovered bacterial species could be engineered for applications in medicine, food preservation, and other industries."
The study was published May 12 in the journal Microbiome.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NASA 'cleanrooms' found crawling with new species of bacteria
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is a picture of Earth from ONE HOUR ago: Do you see yourself? this is a picture of Mars that was taken THIS WEEK: Weather looks nicer than New York City, not going to lie. is how big Earth is compared to Jupiter's Great Red Spot: I would hesitate to call that giant thing a "spot." It's disrespectful to Big Jupey. of which, the Great Red Spot on Jupiter is shrinking: According to NASA, "Some unknown activity in the planet's atmosphere may be draining energy and weakening the storm, causing it to shrink." while we're talkin' Jupiter, this is what Jupiter would look like if it were as close as the moon: Petition to replace the moon with Jupiter. Get on it, Biden. is what the Korean penisula — North Korea on top, South Korea on bottom – looks like from space: That arrow is pointing to Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. 2001, there was a huge dust storm on Mars that obscured the whole planet from the outside: Imagine leaving your windows open on Mars that day. is what Florida looks like from space: To paraphrase Carl Sagan: Every Floridian you love, every Floridian who has robbed a gas station, every Floridian who has unwisely kept an exotic animal as a pet, every Floridian who has ever been seriously hurt flying off a jump in a backyard go-kart accident, has lived out their lives on that peninsula. this is what the Himalayas look like from International Space Station: Not so tall now, are you! is the last image NASA's InSight rover sent from Mars before running out of power at the end of its mission last December: we're on the subject, this is the last picture the Mars Opportunity rover took: Well, one of the final few. Goodnight, sweet prince. is what a volcano erupting looks like from space: Neat! to scale, is how far apart the Milky Way galaxy and the Andromeda galaxy are: FYI, the Milky Way is about 100,000 light-years across. is how big Earth is compared to Saturn: Earth is PUNY. this is how big the Moon and Pluto's moon Charon are compared to the Earth: You know what? I'm glad that puny little dwarf planet doesn't count as a planet anymore. is what Antarctica looks like from space: Read more about how this image was made here. is what the inside of a 1970s spacesuit looked like: Specially the Russian Orlan suit. Looks comfortable and not horrifying at all! can see volcanic eruptions on Jupiter's moon Io from space: Some are large enough to be seen from Earth, too. of IO, here's a picture of one of the moon's most unique mountains, named "Steeple Mountain:" It's about four miles high. is what the Pacific Ocean looks like from space: There are at least ten fish pictured here. is a picture of Pluto and its moons taken in 2006... Related: 13 Tweets From Women This Week That Made Me Laugh So Hard I Might Need Medical Attention this is a much, much clearer picture of Pluto taken only a decade later, in 2015: By NASA's New Horizons spacecraft from 476,000 miles out. is what the Space Shuttle Endeavour looked like as it left Earth and traveled into orbit: It looks like a little toy. is what a typhoon looks like from space: Specifically, Super Typhoon Maysak in 2015. picture was taken shortly after David Scott and Neil Armstrong's Gemini 8 space capsule landed in the Pacific Ocean: Some cool-looking extra-terrestrial dudes. is what the United Kingdom looked like from space during the winter of 2010: Likes like one of those Games of Thrones. is what a sunset looks like from space: Hmmm. Is this more or less impressive than the sunset your mom has as the background on her iPhone lock screen? Weigh in on this in the comments, please. Feb. 7, 1984, Bruce McCandless II performed the first-ever untethered space walk, and folks, it looks absolutely terrifying: He used a jet-propelled backpack to maneuver around. It was apparently very, very cold. is a picture of the ice mountains of Pluto as seen from the New Horizons space probe: The photo is 230 miles across, to put things into perspective. is what New Zealand looks like from space: I think I see Tom Bombadil. is how big an average-sized comet is compared to Paris: Specifically the Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet. Very chill, though. is a REAL picture of the moon crossing in front of the Earth: The image was taken by the DSCOVR spacecraft about a million miles away from Earth. Related: 18 People Who Took A Picture Of Something That — Oops — Is Super Dangerous is what a solar eclipse looks like from space: Like a pen blew up all over Earth. 1972, astronaut Charles Duke left behind a picture of his family on the moon's surface. 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Goodnight, sweet prince. is what a volcano erupting looks like from space: Neat! to scale, is how far apart the Milky Way galaxy and the Andromeda galaxy are: FYI, the Milky Way is about 100,000 light-years across. is how big Earth is compared to Saturn: Earth is PUNY. this is how big the Moon and Pluto's moon Charon are compared to the Earth: You know what? I'm glad that puny little dwarf planet doesn't count as a planet anymore. is what Antarctica looks like from space: Read more about how this image was made here. is what the inside of a 1970s spacesuit looked like: Specially the Russian Orlan suit. 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Related: 13 Tweets From Women This Week That Made Me Laugh So Hard I Might Need Medical Attention this is a much, much clearer picture of Pluto taken only a decade later, in 2015: By NASA's New Horizons spacecraft from 476,000 miles out. is what the Space Shuttle Endeavour looked like as it left Earth and traveled into orbit: It looks like a little toy. is what a typhoon looks like from space: Specifically, Super Typhoon Maysak in 2015. picture was taken shortly after David Scott and Neil Armstrong's Gemini 8 space capsule landed in the Pacific Ocean: Some cool-looking extra-terrestrial dudes. is what the United Kingdom looked like from space during the winter of 2010: Likes like one of those Games of Thrones. is what a sunset looks like from space: Hmmm. Is this more or less impressive than the sunset your mom has as the background on her iPhone lock screen? Weigh in on this in the comments, please. Feb. 7, 1984, Bruce McCandless II performed the first-ever untethered space walk, and folks, it looks absolutely terrifying: He used a jet-propelled backpack to maneuver around. It was apparently very, very cold. is a picture of the ice mountains of Pluto as seen from the New Horizons space probe: The photo is 230 miles across, to put things into perspective. is what New Zealand looks like from space: I think I see Tom Bombadil. is how big an average-sized comet is compared to Paris: Specifically the Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet. Very chill, though. is a REAL picture of the moon crossing in front of the Earth: The image was taken by the DSCOVR spacecraft about a million miles away from Earth. Related: 18 People Who Took A Picture Of Something That — Oops — Is Super Dangerous is what a solar eclipse looks like from space: Like a pen blew up all over Earth. 1972, astronaut Charles Duke left behind a picture of his family on the moon's surface. It's been there ever since: The back of the photo reads, "This is the family of Astronaut Duke from Planet Earth, who landed on the Moon on the twentieth of April 1972." is how big everyone's favorite telescope, the Hubble Telescope, is: KRGEAC The Hubble Space Telescope at the Lockheed assembly plant 8913987 picture, taken in 1946, is one of the first images of Earth ever taken from space: It was captured from a 35-millimeter camera attached to a V-2 rocket. this is the first picture of Earth from the moon, taken in 1966 by Lunar Orbiter 1: Mars rovers are way, way bigger than you thought they were: This is the Perseverance rover. It's not a little RC car! is what a piece of the moon and a piece of Mars looks like: Read and see more here. are two of the earliest known photographs of Saturn and Jupiter, taken in the 19th century: probably familiar with the "Face on Mars," an image of a formation on Mars from the 1970s that launched a million conspiracy theories... this is what a much less blurry, much more recent photograph of that same "face" looks like: I still want to believe. is home to the tallest mountain in the solar system, the 72,000-foot-tall Olympus Mons: It's over 372 miles wide. That's bigger than Arizona. of Mars, this is what a sunset looks like on that there planet: Not as nice as Key West, but what are you gonna do. Martians make do. a bunch of trash left by humans on the moon. In fact, if you really want to know, there are 96 bags of human waste on that big pie in the sky: Now, THAT'S amore. might recognize Eugene from this iconic picture of his moon walk: recently captured one of the clearest pictures of Jupiter yet: Look at my boy Jupey! is the Willamette meteorite, the largest meteorite that's ever been found in the United States: It is the sixth largest in the world and weighs 15.5 tons. this is the Hoba meteorite, the largest meteorite on Earth: The largest that we know of, that is. It's located in Namibia. out on the edge of the Solar System is this big ol' hunk of rock called Ultima Thule, Arrokoth, or (486958) 2014 MU69 — the farthest thing from Earth humanity has ever "explored up close": Reminds me of two peanuts I ate earlier today. Those were some good peanuts. Aldrin took humanity's first "space selfie" while on a spacewalk in 1966: Never heard of a "space selfie"? 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This is what color Mercury really is: this is what Venus looks like to the naked eye: where you are, Earth, in true color: No surprise here. is what Mars looks like in real color: this is what Jupiter looks like without any filters: Saturn in all its true-color glory: this is Uranus in real color: Neptune in true color: finally, here's our little dwarf planet warrior, Pluto, in real color: Also in Internet Finds: The History We're Taught Is Wildly Sanitized, So Here 28 Disturbing Historical Events Everyone Should Be Aware Of Also in Internet Finds: Tattoo Artists Are Sharing The Tattoos They Felt REALLY Uncomfortable Doing, And I Have No Words Also in Internet Finds: "I've Worked In Various Prisons. I Will Take A Men's Over Women's Any Day Of The Week. Shit Is Scary": Former Female Inmates Are Sharing Their Most Disturbing Prison Experiences, And My Jaw Is Literally On The Floor
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This is a picture of Earth from ONE HOUR ago: Do you see yourself? And this is a picture of Mars that was taken THIS WEEK: Weather looks nicer than New York City, not going to lie. This is how big Earth is compared to Jupiter's Great Red Spot: I would hesitate to call that giant thing a "spot." It's disrespectful to Big Jupey. Speaking of which, the Great Red Spot on Jupiter is shrinking: According to NASA, "Some unknown activity in the planet's atmosphere may be draining energy and weakening the storm, causing it to shrink." And while we're talkin' Jupiter, this is what Jupiter would look like if it were as close as the moon: Petition to replace the moon with Jupiter. Get on it, Biden. This is what the Korean penisula — North Korea on top, South Korea on bottom – looks like from space: That arrow is pointing to Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. In 2001, there was a huge dust storm on Mars that obscured the whole planet from the outside: Imagine leaving your windows open on Mars that day. This is what Florida looks like from space: To paraphrase Carl Sagan: Every Floridian you love, every Floridian who has robbed a gas station, every Floridian who has unwisely kept an exotic animal as a pet, every Floridian who has ever been seriously hurt flying off a jump in a backyard go-kart accident, has lived out their lives on that peninsula. And this is what the Himalayas look like from International Space Station: Not so tall now, are you! This is the last image NASA's InSight rover sent from Mars before running out of power at the end of its mission last December: While we're on the subject, this is the last picture the Mars Opportunity rover took: Well, one of the final few. Goodnight, sweet prince. This is what a volcano erupting looks like from space: Neat! This, to scale, is how far apart the Milky Way galaxy and the Andromeda galaxy are: FYI, the Milky Way is about 100,000 light-years across. This is how big Earth is compared to Saturn: Earth is PUNY. And this is how big the Moon and Pluto's moon Charon are compared to the Earth: You know what? I'm glad that puny little dwarf planet doesn't count as a planet anymore. This is what Antarctica looks like from space: Read more about how this image was made here. This is what the inside of a 1970s spacesuit looked like: Specially the Russian Orlan suit. Looks comfortable and not horrifying at all! You can see volcanic eruptions on Jupiter's moon Io from space: Some are large enough to be seen from Earth, too. Speaking of IO, here's a picture of one of the moon's most unique mountains, named "Steeple Mountain:" It's about four miles high. This is what the Pacific Ocean looks like from space: There are at least ten fish pictured here. This is a picture of Pluto and its moons taken in 2006... And this is a much, much clearer picture of Pluto taken only a decade later, in 2015: By NASA's New Horizons spacecraft from 476,000 miles out. This is what the Space Shuttle Endeavour looked like as it left Earth and traveled into orbit: It looks like a little toy. This is what a typhoon looks like from space: Specifically, Super Typhoon Maysak in 2015. This picture was taken shortly after David Scott and Neil Armstrong's Gemini 8 space capsule landed in the Pacific Ocean: Some cool-looking extra-terrestrial dudes. This is what the United Kingdom looked like from space during the winter of 2010: Likes like one of those Games of Thrones. This is what a sunset looks like from space: Hmmm. Is this more or less impressive than the sunset your mom has as the background on her iPhone lock screen? Weigh in on this in the comments, please. On Feb. 7, 1984, Bruce McCandless II performed the first-ever untethered space walk, and folks, it looks absolutely terrifying: He used a jet-propelled backpack to maneuver around. It was apparently very, very cold. This is a picture of the ice mountains of Pluto as seen from the New Horizons space probe: The photo is 230 miles across, to put things into perspective. This is what New Zealand looks like from space: I think I see Tom Bombadil. This is how big an average-sized comet is compared to Paris: Specifically the Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet. Very chill, though. This is a REAL picture of the moon crossing in front of the Earth: The image was taken by the DSCOVR spacecraft about a million miles away from Earth. This is what a solar eclipse looks like from space: Like a pen blew up all over Earth. In 1972, astronaut Charles Duke left behind a picture of his family on the moon's surface. It's been there ever since: The back of the photo reads, "This is the family of Astronaut Duke from Planet Earth, who landed on the Moon on the twentieth of April 1972." This is how big everyone's favorite telescope, the Hubble Telescope, is: KRGEAC The Hubble Space Telescope at the Lockheed assembly plant 8913987 This picture, taken in 1946, is one of the first images of Earth ever taken from space: It was captured from a 35-millimeter camera attached to a V-2 rocket. And this is the first picture of Earth from the moon, taken in 1966 by Lunar Orbiter 1: The Mars rovers are way, way bigger than you thought they were: This is the Perseverance rover. It's not a little RC car! This is what a piece of the moon and a piece of Mars looks like: Read and see more here. These are two of the earliest known photographs of Saturn and Jupiter, taken in the 19th century: You're probably familiar with the "Face on Mars," an image of a formation on Mars from the 1970s that launched a million conspiracy theories... ...well, this is what a much less blurry, much more recent photograph of that same "face" looks like: I still want to believe. Mars is home to the tallest mountain in the solar system, the 72,000-foot-tall Olympus Mons: It's over 372 miles wide. That's bigger than Arizona. Speaking of Mars, this is what a sunset looks like on that there planet: Not as nice as Key West, but what are you gonna do. Martians make do. There's a bunch of trash left by humans on the moon. In fact, if you really want to know, there are 96 bags of human waste on that big pie in the sky: Now, THAT'S amore. You might recognize Eugene from this iconic picture of his moon walk: NASA recently captured one of the clearest pictures of Jupiter yet: Look at my boy Jupey! This is the Willamette meteorite, the largest meteorite that's ever been found in the United States: It is the sixth largest in the world and weighs 15.5 tons. And this is the Hoba meteorite, the largest meteorite on Earth: The largest that we know of, that is. It's located in Namibia. Way out on the edge of the Solar System is this big ol' hunk of rock called Ultima Thule, Arrokoth, or (486958) 2014 MU69 — the farthest thing from Earth humanity has ever "explored up close": Reminds me of two peanuts I ate earlier today. Those were some good peanuts. Buzz Aldrin took humanity's first "space selfie" while on a spacewalk in 1966: Never heard of a "space selfie"? Well, it's got its own Wikipedia page. This is what the moon looks like in the Northern Hemisphere... ...and this is what the moon looks like in the Southern Hemisphere. It's upside down: Well, I guess that just depends on the moon you lived your life with. This is what Ireland looks like from space: I think I see Bono. And finally, this is the statement President Jimmy Carter wrote and put aboard the Voyager 1 spacecraft, intended for any aliens the probe might encounter: It reads: "This Voyager spacecraft was constructed by the United States of America. We are a community of 240 million human beings among the more than 4 billion who inhabit the planet Earth. We human beings are still divided into nation states, but these states are rapidly becoming a single global civilization."We cast this message into the cosmos. It is likely to survive a billion years into our future, when our civilization is profoundly altered and the surface of the Earth may be vastly changed. Of the 200 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy, some — perhaps many — may have inhabited planets and spacefaring civilizations. If one such civilization intercepts Voyager and can understand these recorded contents, here is our message:"This is a present from a small distant world, a token of our sounds, our science, our images, our music, our thoughts, and our feelings. We are attempting to survive our time so we may live into yours. We hope someday, having solved the problems we face, to join a community of galactic civilizations. This record represents our hope and our determination, and our good will in a vast and awesome universe." This is Eugene Cernan, who is, as of 2023, the last man to ever walk on the moon: He did it way back in 1972. It's been that long, folks! Finally, let's end by looking at the TRUE color of every planet in our solar system. This is what color Mercury really is: And this is what Venus looks like to the naked eye: Here's where you are, Earth, in true color: No surprise here. This is what Mars looks like in real color: And this is what Jupiter looks like without any filters: Here's Saturn in all its true-color glory: And this is Uranus in real color: Here's Neptune in true color: And, finally, here's our little dwarf planet warrior, Pluto, in real color:
