NASA scientists have discovered living microorganisms trapped for 60,000 years in the particular cave of giant crystals in Naica (Mexico). These live microbes feed on sulfite, manganese and copper oxide , among other chemicals, Penelope Boston, director of the NASA Astrobiology Institute, told a conference of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
The cave in question – famous for its huge crystals, some as high as 15 meters – is located hundreds of meters deep in an abandoned zinc and lead mine in the Mexican state of Chihuahua.
NASA’s finding has yet to be published in a leading scientific journal, as the results have yet to be confirmed. Despite this, “ this discovery has profound effects on how we try to understand the evolutionary history of microbial life on this planet, ” says Boston.
Around 100 different types of microorganisms , most of them bacteria, have been discovered in these crystals , trapped for periods ranging from 10,000 to 60,000 years. 90% of them have never been observed before.
The revelation of these ultra-resistant microorganisms has been an unexpected gift for researchers, but also a source of concern for astrobiologists, who are now thinking of bringing back samples collected on space missions in the solar system for analysis. And it is that the extreme conditions under which these microbes have survived, raise the possibility that extraterrestrial organisms could – accidentally – reach Earth in a spacecraft returning from its mission.
“How can we guarantee that the life detection missions will detect the true life of Mars or the life of the frozen worlds instead of our life?” Boston wonders.
These concerns are not new. During the Apollo missions of the 1960s and 1970s, astronauts returning from the moon were quarantined for these very thoughts.
