NASA Scientist Uncovers Astonishing Lunar Mystery

While Earth boasts of thriving ecosystems, the moon has always been considered a desolate and uninhabitable space object, lacking any traces of water or life. Nevertheless, a NASA expert holds the view that the moon has hidden secrets yet to be discovered.

According to Prabal Saxena, a planetary scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, microbial life may persist in the harsh conditions observed on the moon.

“In relatively sheltered areas, airless bodies may have potentially habitable sites for such life,” Saxena explained, as reported by Space.com.

The source of this life is amazing. If such lunar bacteria exist, they most likely originated on Earth and traveled to the moon in a lunar lander!

Saxena primarily studies the possible existence of extraterrestrial life outside our solar system, but he has recently turned his attention closer to home – the south pole of the moon.

In recent years, the south pole of the moon has received significant attention due to NASA’s plans to land Artemis III astronauts there by 2025. The agency has identified 13 possible landing sites for the mission.

Despite the fact that no human has ever set foot on the moon’s south pole, NASA’s Moon Mineralogy Mapper has revealed the presence of ice in craters that astronauts could mine for rocket fuel. Some of these craters remain shrouded in permanent darkness, shielded from the sun’s harmful rays. Thus, these lunar pockets could potentially serve as safe havens for extreme microbial life.

In his recent work, as reported by Inside Outer Space’s Leonard David, Saxena noted: “Recent studies of the survival of microbes exposed to conditions such as those found on parts of the lunar surface show the surprising resilience of many microorganisms in such conditions.”

An example of the resistance of certain microbes was shown by the bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans, which survived on the outer surface of the International Space Station for a whole year. Known for their ability to withstand extreme conditions, tardigrades have also survived outside the ISS in space.

“We are currently investigating which particular organisms are most likely to survive in such areas,” Saxena told Space.com.

Although there are currently no microbes on the Moon, they are very likely once humans begin exploring its surface. Space.com reports that if Saxena and his team’s hypothesis turns out to be correct, these microbes would not only survive but could thrive forever in the shadowed craters.