It is claimed that a bacterium with a very high resistance to radiation and other environmental hazards lived outside the International Space Station (ISS) for three years and will survive until it reaches Mars.
As part of the Tanpopo mission in Japan to test the theory that microbes can move from one planet to another and build life, granules of Deinococcus bacteria dried in aluminum sheets were placed on panels mounted on the edge of the ISS.
After 1.2 and 3 years, data were obtained from plaques of Deinococcus granules of various sizes and tested to see how well the bacteria survived.
The researchers found that the bacteria in the granules larger than 0.5 millimeters survived, although their DNA was damaged.
Researchers believe that the findings support the possibility of interplanetary migration of microbes over several years. Deynococci are said to be resistant to cold, thirst and acid.
Deinococcus bacteria are 3,000 times more resistant to radiation than humans.