Microbial survival in space shuttle crash (original) (raw)

NASA/ADS

;

• Welsh, Allana K. ;
• Casasanto, Valerie A.

Abstract

A slow growing, heat resistant bacterium, identified by 16S rRNA gene sequencing as Microbispora sp., was recovered from the wreckage of the ill-fated space shuttle Columbia (STS-107). As this organism survived disintegration of the space craft, heat of reentry, and impact, it supports the possibility of a natural mechanism for the interplanetary spread of life by meteorites.

Publication:

Icarus

Pub Date:

March 2006

DOI:

10.1016/j.icarus.2005.12.002

Bibcode:

2006Icar..181..323M