Has NASA left microorganisms on the moon or planets?

Answer 1

nasa goes through GREAT efforts to clean ALL parts of ANYTHING they send into space.

chemical disenfecting, heat and other methods.

it could be possible that say on the shuttle's surface, bacteria, could make it to space, but then the shuttle doesn't go to other planets. the probes that do, stay incapsulated in the rocket until it detaches and goes out on its own.

now, I'm not sure if they did that early in the moon missions, but I'd say its a safe bet that this has been a core concept since the beginning of NASA space exploration.

Those guys ain't stupid and they surely plan ahead for almost everything that could possbily happen,

Answer 2

Almost certainly. I just read an article about the so-called "clean rooms" where satellites and other probes are assembled and tested. Turns out they're not as clean as once thought but instead are homes to several species of microorganisms that certainly find their way onto the spacecraft under assembly. Interestingly, many of these microorganisms are totally unfamiliar and have never been seen before!

Answer 3

oh no! if we left microorganisms on our space probes, then aliens can analyze our form of life's DNA and create a super-bug that only kills buxum redheads!

(now, wait a minute... this might not be ALL bad...)

Answer 4

I'll bet they have, perhaps inadvertently, but they have. We just have to pollute.. it is in our very nature by the look of things. In a few years from now those organisms may have mutated into man-eating plants or something in that vein. Sorry, I have little respect for our propensity to pollute and spread aliens (plants) around.

Answer 5

While they surely took some with them, the lack of atmosphere, radiation and extreme temperatures in space probably killed most of them.