Can bacteria survive in the vacuum of space?

[Driller]

Prompted by http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-2520...

[otolith]

It's not just the vacuum, it's the resulting freeze-drying, the extremes of temperature and the exposure to radiation.

There are bigger things than bacteria which can survive it, though;

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/12855775

[Eric Mc]

Back in 1969, the Apollo 12 astronauts returned portions of the unmanned Surveyor 7 unmanned lunar lander that had been sitting on the surface of the moon for 2 1/2 years. It was found that some earth bacteria had survived on the lander during its 2 1/2 year sojourn.

[Simpo Two]

I would guess yes, because bacteria and much simpler organisms that tardigrades. Even more so for viruses, which you can argue are not 'alive' anyway as they need a host to reproduce.

[Driller]

I would have thought that the intracellular pressure being more than the exterior would cause instant lysis? Quite apart from the extreme cold mentioned above by otolith.

[Einion Yrth]

Eric Mc said:

Back in 1969, the Apollo 12 astronauts returned portions of the unmanned Surveyor 7 unmanned lunar lander that had been sitting on the surface of the moon for 2 1/2 years. It was found that some earth bacteria had survived on the lander during its 2 1/2 year sojourn.

Or perhaps not.

[Eric Mc]

Einion Yrth said:

Eric Mc said:

Back in 1969, the Apollo 12 astronauts returned portions of the unmanned Surveyor 7 unmanned lunar lander that had been sitting on the surface of the moon for 2 1/2 years. It was found that some earth bacteria had survived on the lander during its 2 1/2 year sojourn.

Or perhaps not.

It has been disputed ever since it was first announced.

[Einion Yrth]

Eric Mc said:

Einion Yrth said:

Eric Mc said:

Back in 1969, the Apollo 12 astronauts returned portions of the unmanned Surveyor 7 unmanned lunar lander that had been sitting on the surface of the moon for 2 1/2 years. It was found that some earth bacteria had survived on the lander during its 2 1/2 year sojourn.

Or perhaps not.

It has been disputed ever since it was first announced.

And the bacteria may have survived for 2 1/2 years on the lunar surface, but I think baldly stating it as a fact may be slightly over-egging the pudding.

[Eric Mc]

The point I was making was that the subject has been a live one for decades.

[escargot]

Eric Mc said:

The point I was making was that the subject has been a live one for decades.

Why didn't you say that then?

[Driller]

For the experiment have they not hung a few petri dishes out of an ISS window to see what happens?

[Eric Mc]

escargot said:

Eric Mc said:

The point I was making was that the subject has been a live one for decades.

Why didn't you say that then?

Dramatic effect - in the best tradition of tabloidism.

[escargot]

You're better than that, Eric.

[Eric Mc]

I just felt like it at the time.

Sometimes being a bit crass stirs the debate a bit.