Scientists Find Traces of Sea Plankton On ISS Surface

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Scientists Find Traces of Sea Plankton On ISS Surface

Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday August 19, 2014 @09:56AM from the space-stations-like-to-swim dept.

schwit1 sends this report from the ITAR-TASS News Agency: An experiment of taking samples from illuminators and the ISS surface has brought unique results, as scientists had found traces of sea plankton there, the chief of an orbital mission on Russia's ISS segment told reporters. Results of the scope of scientific experiments which had been conducted for a quite long time were summed up in the previous year, confirming that some organisms can live on the surface of the International Space Station for years amid factors of a space flight, such as zero gravity, temperature conditions and hard cosmic radiation. Several surveys proved that these organisms can even develop. He noted that it was not quite clear how these microscopic particles could have appeared on the surface of the space station.

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But is it really plankton? by penguinoid · 2014-08-19 09:58 · Score: 1

Or did they just find something that kind of looks like some?

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1. Re:But is it really plankton? by frovingslosh · 2014-08-19 10:15 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Of course it is really plankton. The real issue is is it Sea Plankton as claimed. Or are our oceans full of Space Plankton?
  
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2. Re:But is it really plankton? by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · 2014-08-19 11:02 · Score: 1
  
  Miniature giant space plankton, as it happens.
3. Re:But is it really plankton? by Forever+Wondering · 2014-08-19 11:56 · Score: 1
  
  Perhaps it was "The Green Slime" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt00...
  
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  Like a good neighbor, fsck is there ...
4. Re:But is it really plankton? by Tuidjy · 2014-08-19 12:03 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Let see.
  Did viable Space Plankton drift from outer space to the ISS as it was orbiting Earth, and just happened to be DNA-identical to the one that has been living (and maybe evolving) in Earth's seas?
  Or was Sea Plankton carried by the wind to the hold of the vehicle carrying these components up from cape Canaveral?
  Oh, my... so hard to decide which is more likely.
  
  --
  No good deed goes unpunished...
5. Re:But is it really plankton? by ShaunC · 2014-08-19 12:09 · Score: 2
  
  Next week on Search for Ancient Plankton, renowned expert S. Squarepantopoulous explores the difference between space plankton and sea plankton. Only on H2, check local listings.
  
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  Thanks to the War on Drugs, it's easier to buy meth than it is to buy cold medicine!
6. Re:But is it really plankton? by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-19 12:22 · Score: 0
  
  That's what I thought of. Let's all sing...
  "Green Sliiiiiiime!!!!"
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
7. Re: But is it really plankton? by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-19 14:12 · Score: 0
  
  AHA! So it's really WIND plankton!
8. Re:But is it really plankton? by JoeMerchant · 2014-08-19 14:31 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  Well, the cargo ship is one possibility, but when you consider the scale of the oceans and just how close the ISS is to them: if the Pacific Ocean were a sheet of Letter sized paper, the ISS would be zipping along 1/4" above it, and the ISS has been skimming along near the Earth's surface like this for years and years.
  Now, think about hurricanes, typhoons, winter storms, and everything else that violently churns the ocean surface - aerosolizing some tiny fraction of it, but still including billions upon billions of plankton that go for a flight every year. Most fall back into the ocean, but some inevitably fly quite high....
  What would be amazing to me is if these sea-launched plankton could actually hitch a ride on the passing ISS without getting lethally damaged in the transition. I suppose that on their scale, hitting a wall moving hundreds of miles per hour might not be as disruptive as it is for larger, multicellular organisms.
9. Re: But is it really plankton? by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-19 16:28 · Score: 0
  
  Or if they hitched a ride on a passing asteroid which traveled far enough away from the sun fast enough to freeze the organisms, traveled for 1,000,000 years and crashed into a small water-rich planet , the third from its sun, in a small solar system on one of the arms of the spiral galaxy named The Milky Way
10. Re: But is it really plankton? by FatdogHaiku · 2014-08-19 16:45 · Score: 1
  
  Or anti-gravity plankton! Maybe it's trying to get off the earth and we caught some of it like a bug on the windshield...
  
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11. Re: But is it really plankton? by TapeCutter · 2014-08-19 17:27 · Score: 1
  
  Probably fell off a passing whale that was on its way to talk to Vega.
  
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12. Re:But is it really plankton? by u38cg · 2014-08-19 20:16 · Score: 1
  
  Well, when you hit a wall at several hundred miles an hour the damage is mechanical. At plankton scale it's effectively just chemistry.
  
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  [FUCK BETA]
13. Re:But is it really plankton? by RivenAleem · 2014-08-19 21:38 · Score: 1
  
  And where there's Space Plankton, the must be Space Whales. Man the harpoons maties!.
14. Re:But is it really plankton? by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-20 00:57 · Score: 1
  
  Because, Aliens.
15. Re:But is it really plankton? by notonthegrid · 2014-08-20 05:14 · Score: 1
  
  Maybe there was a layer of dead plankton that built up over time, and
  provided some 'cushion' so later arrivals had a softer landing on the
  surface of the ISS?
16. Re:But is it really plankton? by Dogtanian · 2014-08-20 10:09 · Score: 1
  
  Because, Aliens.
  Obligatory.
  
  While we're here, what's up with that Ancient Aliens guy's hair? Is he a massive Babylon 5 fan or something?!
  
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17. Re:But is it really plankton? by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-20 17:22 · Score: 0
  
  Maybe we're just plankton's way of fertilizing other planets.
18. Re: But is it really plankton? by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-21 10:08 · Score: 0
  
  That's what I was thinking... interesting really. And wouldn't it be atmospheric plankton* cause space plankton doesn't make as much sense.
19. Re: But is it really plankton? by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-27 22:13 · Score: 0
  
  Good point
nuke it in orbit... by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-19 09:59 · Score: 1

what makes you so sure it is of terrestrial origins?
1. Re:nuke it in orbit... by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · 2014-08-19 11:06 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  what makes you so sure it is of terrestrial origins?
  Unless this is Star Trek, where the entire biodiversity of the galaxy can be accounted for by face paint and is sexually interoperable with starfleet captains, we can make an overwhelmingly likely inference based on the chemistry. If its DNA and assorted important chemistry closely matches a terrestrial species it is very likely to be from around here.
2. Re:nuke it in orbit... by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-19 11:16 · Score: 0
  
  The basis for this, in the Star Trek universe, is that all (or most) the bipedal species you see (the ones that can sexually inter-operate with star fleet captains and crew members) come from the same root DNA planted by an ancient alien species.
3. Re:nuke it in orbit... by Livius · 2014-08-19 12:35 · Score: 1
  
  Because species that diverged genetically several billion years ago will physically closely resemble each other.
4. Re:nuke it in orbit... by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-19 13:58 · Score: 0
  
  Because species that diverged genetically several billion years ago will physically closely resemble each other.
  At least on Class M planets.
5. Re:nuke it in orbit... by Jason+Levine · 2014-08-19 14:14 · Score: 2
  
  They look completely different. Watch:
  Human
  *puts forehead ridge on*
  Alien
  *takes forehead ridge off*
  Human
  *puts forehead ridge on*
  Alien
  In unrelated news, Clark Kent and Superman look NOTHING alike.
  
  --
  My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
6. Re:nuke it in orbit... by JoeMerchant · 2014-08-19 14:33 · Score: 1
  
  I don't doubt it's from Earth, to me the intriguing question is how did it get from the ocean to the station - did it hitch a ride with a launch vehicle, or is this high altitude sea spray?
  If it is sea spray, it should be found on most long serving LEO satellites.
7. Re:nuke it in orbit... by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-19 16:45 · Score: 0
  
  I don't know, convergent evolution or genetic pre-programming or something? As the MST3K theme song says, "If you're wondering how he eats and breathes and other science facts, repeat to yourself 'it's just a show,' I should really just relax."
8. Re:nuke it in orbit... by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-19 19:39 · Score: 0
  
  Think - "Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury.
9. Re:nuke it in orbit... by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-19 23:49 · Score: 1
  
  In a world that takes weeks to even identify the correct Linnaean Kingdom of orange biomass that washes up along the shore or Inupiat village, don't look for a definitive answer any time soon.
10. Re:nuke it in orbit... by Talderas · 2014-08-20 00:27 · Score: 1
  
  The space shuttle launch pads are about a kilometer away from the ocean. I was under the impression that satellies weren't exposed payloads until they near the end of the burn of the rocket.
  
  --
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11. Re:nuke it in orbit... by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-20 05:34 · Score: 0
  
  we can make an overwhelmingly likely inference based on the chemistry
  No, we can't. We only know of one set of commands that can assemble themselves at the molecular level and constitute life. We have zero evidence beyond hand-waiving theory that anything else can even exist. The only thing we can say if we see DNA is that it exists and try to work out how it got from Earth to the ISS if it did come from Earth. Skeptisism isn't science by any stretch of the imagination you fucking blowhard.
12. Re:nuke it in orbit... by LienRag · 2014-08-20 07:34 · Score: 1
  
  Well, if Space Planction can came as close to earth as to cling on the ISS, it probably can fall on earth itself too...
  So where would you find DNA differences?
13. Re:nuke it in orbit... by Dogtanian · 2014-08-20 10:40 · Score: 1
  
  Unless this is Star Trek, where the entire biodiversity of the galaxy can be accounted for by face paint and is sexually interoperable with starfleet captains
  You're making quite a big assumption there- we didn't actually *see* any of this. (*) It's far more likely that Kirk- being Kirk- is engaging in what we can euphemistically call "inter-species sex" (cough) and just doesn't give that much of a ****. (**) I'm sure that if there wasn't a... compatible hole, he'd find one that fits closely enough.
  
  That looks a lot worse now that it's been typed out. :-/
  
  (*) Though I'm sure that one or more geeks have attempted an unofficial porno version focusing on this anyway.
  
  (*) And no, post-hoc rationalisation 30 years down the line doesn't count. Pretty sure that as far as the original authors were concerned, Kirk was banging green-skinned alien, er, chicks, and that was it.
  
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14. Re:nuke it in orbit... by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-20 17:36 · Score: 0
  
  Funny how aliens have forehead ridges like premodern humans. Maybe that's the reason for the Fermi paradox - they're afraid of how superior we'll be if we ever get out of here. Surprising that nobody's tried to wipe us out pre-emptively.
15. Re:nuke it in orbit... by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · 2014-08-21 06:39 · Score: 1
  
  I'm not sure why this has you so worked up; but nothing about my proposal requires assuming that all true aliens are made of silicon and element-115 or similar sci-fi handwaving.
  
  Looking at terrestrial organisms, we see various limits on what biochemistries actually work; but we also see a lot of variation. Some of it in fairly critical systems, much of it churn. Depending on the exact resources available and any special difficulties involved we can, and do, build robust phylogenetic trees. In cases that we care more about, or are better behaved, we can sometimes nail heredity down to the individual level despite the fact that conspecifics employ pretty much identical chemistry.
  
  It may well be the case that an alien is based on pretty much the same chemistry as terrestrial life, even that there aren't any other options; but a carbon based alien with DNA that just coincidentially fits neatly into a terrestrially evolved phylogenetic tree? That would be quite a trick.
OMG SPACE PLANKTON!! by Narcocide · 2014-08-19 10:01 · Score: 2

Star Whales coming soon to a galaxy near you!!
1. Re:OMG SPACE PLANKTON!! by hort_wort · 2014-08-19 15:53 · Score: 1
  
  Star Whales coming soon to a galaxy near you!!
  Woah!! Let's calm down here! We should start with engineering space jellyfish first and work up....
IANAS, But... by flayzernax · 2014-08-19 10:02 · Score: 0

Sounds like Nasa is still not quite ready to admit how ubiquitous life is in the cosmos. Lest they get shut down forever and everyone lose their jobs.
1. Re:IANAS, But... by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-19 10:12 · Score: 0
  
  they'll just be reformed into the Federal Agency for Prospecting Space
  captcha: consent
This actually makes perfect sense. by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-19 10:02 · Score: 5, Interesting

This doesn't seem unreasonable to me.
Many forms of sea plankton are microscopically small. They can easily become trapped within evaporated water droplets. And the ISS isn't really in the dead of space; it's still within the ionosphere, which itself consists partially of water vapor.
So it makes perfect sense that sea plankton would end up trapped within water that evaporated from the surface of the various bodies of water on earth, and then made its way up to the upper reaches of the ionosphere, where the ISS passed through it, causing the plankton to be deposited upon the ISS.
It's all very reasonable.
1. Re:This actually makes perfect sense. by wkk2 · 2014-08-19 10:14 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  If plankton was taken to the ISS via an updraft and it's viable (survived the delta V of impact). It would seem likely that impacts with passing objects that are above escape velocity could also occur. If that's true, plankton might be found all over the solar system.
2. Re:This actually makes perfect sense. by Sowelu · 2014-08-19 10:32 · Score: 1
  
  I would expect it's more likely that it picked the stuff up during launch. Water vapor in the air at low altitudes?
3. Re:This actually makes perfect sense. by war4peace · 2014-08-19 10:36 · Score: 1
  
  ...and survive the very high temperatures caused by air friction on the way up?
  
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4. Re: This actually makes perfect sense. by O('_')O_Bush · 2014-08-19 10:45 · Score: 2
  
  Shielded in the capsule holding components of the ISS? Why not? The ISS parts weren't traveling in a vacuum, and given humid, balmy, oceanfront Cape Canaveral, seems reasonable to me that their might have been some air exchange or air captured.
  
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5. Re:This actually makes perfect sense. by Anubis+IV · 2014-08-19 10:50 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Are you suggesting that a freak occurrence like a sea breeze may be occurring at a coastal location like Cape Canaveral, Florida? And that it may have even reached as far inland as the VAB, which is where the ISS capsule would have been loaded into the shuttle's cargo bay? And that the VAB, which has the largest doors anywhere in the world so that fully-loaded space vehicles can be carried out on the crawler transporter in one piece, may have allowed such contaminated air to get inside?
  Absurdity and nonsense! Surely they would've planned for something like that!
  Which is all to say, I quite agree with you, since it seems like the most obvious time and place that sea life could have been deposited on any of the equipment. After all, they spend days or weeks inside the VAB, which is one of the largest buildings by volume in the world. So large, in fact, that rain clouds have formed inside, and that water has to come from somewhere...such as the nearby ocean water that contains plankton.
6. Re:This actually makes perfect sense. by rasmusbr · 2014-08-19 10:58 · Score: 1
  
  I would expect it's more likely that it picked the stuff up during launch. Water vapor in the air at low altitudes?
  Yeah, or perhaps more likely: water droplets carried by the wind inside the bay where they loaded the space station module into the shuttle.
7. Re:This actually makes perfect sense. by Em+Adespoton · 2014-08-19 11:21 · Score: 2
  
  What also makes perfect sense is that the equipment used to do the collection and detection wasn't as clean as they had hoped. I seem to recall this happened with some meteorites at some point. Contamination is always a factor when dealing with microorganisms.
8. Re:This actually makes perfect sense. by hey! · 2014-08-19 12:33 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Except water vapor is the gaseous form of water; the plankton would have to be transported on individual molecules of water to reach the ionosphere.
  If plankton were transportable in microscopic *droplets* in the troposphere as you suggest, a more plausible explanation is that the equipment was contaminated -- both the station itself and the gear used to test it.
  
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9. Re:This actually makes perfect sense. by evilviper · 2014-08-19 12:41 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  If that's true, plankton might be found all over the solar system.
  "My God! It's full of plankton!"
  They may be the "dark matter" we've been searching for.
  
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10. Re:This actually makes perfect sense. by trout007 · 2014-08-19 13:40 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  Actually nothing is loaded into the payload bay in the VAB. That is just where the stack was built up. The ISS payload were installed in the Payload Changeout Room (PCR) on the Rotating Service Structure (RSS) while the shuttle is actually on the Pad. This allows a later integration for the payloads and allows access to them late in the process.
  http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pa...
  
  --
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11. Re:This actually makes perfect sense. by Anubis+IV · 2014-08-19 15:09 · Score: 1
  
  Wow. I had no idea. That is really cool.
  Now I'm wondering where I got it in my head that the orbiter was fully-loaded when it was placed on the crawler, since I could've sworn I had heard that. Well, regardless, it appears I either heard wrong or am misremembering. This is one of those times that I absolutely relish being corrected, since I get to learn something neat. Thanks!
12. Re:This actually makes perfect sense. by trout007 · 2014-08-19 15:40 · Score: 1
  
  There were a few horizontally integrated payloads but those were integrated in the Orbiter Process Facility (OPF) which is basically the hangar.
  
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13. Re:This actually makes perfect sense. by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-19 16:16 · Score: 1
  
  survived the delta V of impact
  Have you never heard of the cube-square law? The delta V of impact is nothing to worry about for microscopic things that don't have internal organs.
14. Re:This actually makes perfect sense. by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-19 17:39 · Score: 0
  
  How wonder what % of /.-ers got the reference?
15. Re:This actually makes perfect sense. by BigMike · 2014-08-19 18:31 · Score: 1
  
  And the universe says "thanks for all the fish"
  
  If plankton was taken to the ISS via an updraft and it's viable (survived the delta V of impact). It would seem likely that impacts with passing objects that are above escape velocity could also occur. If that's true, plankton might be found all over the solar system.
16. Re:This actually makes perfect sense. by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-19 21:57 · Score: 0
  
  and survive the very high temperatures caused by air friction on the way up
  
  The vast majority of heating encountered by something flying through the atmosphere is due to compression of the air immediately ahead of it, not friction. Additionally, there's not nearly as much heating encountered during ascent as during re-entry.
17. Re:This actually makes perfect sense. by MichaelSmith · 2014-08-19 22:14 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah, given that launch sites tend to be on coastal areas.
  
  --
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18. Re:This actually makes perfect sense. by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-20 00:00 · Score: 0
  
  What are evaporated water droplets? I thought when water evaporates it becomes a gas, not droplets with plankton in them.
19. Re:This actually makes perfect sense. by zb84 · 2014-08-20 02:28 · Score: 1
  
  ...Cape Canaveral? This is ROS segment module, Baikonur is far, far away from sea.
20. Re:This actually makes perfect sense. by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-20 12:28 · Score: 0
  
  Water vapor != water droplets. Water droplets are still liquid. Vapor is gas and will not contain any microorganisms.
It came from Bikini Bottom by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-19 10:04 · Score: 4, Funny

Krabs must have caught him trying to steal the Krabby Patty formula again.
I know how it got up there by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-19 10:07 · Score: 0

Kim Dotcom busted a sick cannonball off his yacht.
Life came from space by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-19 10:09 · Score: 0

Life came from space to Earth in a moon sized ball of water. It evolved and developed in that water long before it hit Earth, and that impact created our Moon.
Easy explanation by Bodhammer · 2014-08-19 10:16 · Score: 2

Plankton on the ISS happens the same way SpongeBob and Patrick can build a campfire in Bikini Bottom. (in fact, there is a cosmic connection between the two)

--
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1. Re:Easy explanation by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-19 11:56 · Score: 0
  
  HUR HUR!!! It's a science article everyone, watch me make a dumb fucking retarded fucked up shit-for-brains joke.
2. Re: Easy explanation by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-21 18:37 · Score: 0
  
  Were you born an asshole or does that kind of thing take lots of practice?
Shocked I tell you...shocked! by djupedal · 2014-08-19 10:16 · Score: 3, Insightful

Terrestrial materials found on object made of terrestrial materials.
Hitchhiker's explanation by Mostly+a+lurker · 2014-08-19 10:18 · Score: 1

Presumably, someone has been using the infinite improbability drive.
1. Re:Hitchhiker's explanation by Jason+Levine · 2014-08-19 14:21 · Score: 1
  
  No, that's only if they find a whale and a bowl of petunias near the ISS.
  
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we are paying it forward by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-19 10:25 · Score: 0

and returning life to another world though with interest it really should be a multicellular organism we send. Don't we have any spare politicians lying around?
Are all summaries to be in pseudo-English now? by wonkey_monkey · 2014-08-19 10:25 · Score: 1

Could someone not have tidied up this summary just a little?

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1. Re:Are all summaries to be in pseudo-English now? by gargleblast · 2014-08-19 13:19 · Score: 1
  
  Many could. But Slashdot editors aren't exactly gunning for the Pulitzer.
2. Re: Are all summaries to be in pseudo-English now? by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-19 16:33 · Score: 0
  
  What's the name of the "Pulitzer" for fifth graders?
What's next... Celestial whales by Zondar · 2014-08-19 10:27 · Score: 3, Funny

licking the hull of the ISS for nutrition?
1. Re:What's next... Celestial whales by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-19 13:12 · Score: 0
  
  No, that's in a few hundred years when "Star Trek, The Voyage Home" come true.
Next up, barnacles by AbrasiveCat · 2014-08-19 10:39 · Score: 2

First plankton, and you know what eats plankton, barnacles. I wouldn't want to have to scrape down the ISS. No wonder they are talking about abandoning the ISS in a few years.
1. Re:Next up, barnacles by Em+Adespoton · 2014-08-19 11:22 · Score: 1
  
  They just need to send someone out there to coat the ISS in some toxic chemicals, same as boats. So that the plankton can become resistant to toxic chemicals as well as extreme weather conditions.
2. Re:Next up, barnacles by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-19 18:29 · Score: 0
  
  They just need to send someone out there to coat the ISS in some toxic chemicals, same as boats. So that the plankton can become resistant to toxic chemicals as well as extreme weather conditions.
  Is this a bad thing? Create some biological shell that is resistant to all of the things that can hurt humans/equipment in space. Preferably something that can go dormant when there is nothing to eat, but will regenerate/grow when fed through the skin of the station. You now have a regenerating protective outer shell.
  The main issue with this approach is it could potentially impair heat removal from the station. Of course there is also the whole introducing non-native life to a pristine habitat, things could get out of control. Of course Monsanto will be the first to achieve something like this.
3. Re:Next up, barnacles by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-20 14:39 · Score: 0
  
  Of course Monsanto will be the first to achieve something like this.
  Nobody but Hollywood ever said that the future had to be a pretty place.
Meanwhile by linear+a · 2014-08-19 10:40 · Score: 1

Meanwhile. The samples of the Titanic I've been analyzing seem to have been exposed to hard vacuum and solar wind erosion.
So, now it's official then. There's life out there by chaosdivine69 · 2014-08-19 10:40 · Score: 1

And just like that...life, living outside special suits and man made mechanical devices has spread from our planet. If there wasn't life in outer space before, besides ours (which I think is highly unlikely anyhow since space is so vast), there is now! Well done mankind on the beginnings of teraforming!
not hard cosmic radiation by slew · 2014-08-19 10:47 · Score: 3, Informative

AFAIK, the ISS is still inside the van allen belt which means it isn't even subject to medium-level of cosmic radiation (experienced by the Apollo missions), yet alone hard cosmic interstellar radiation (when you get out into Voyager distances)...
1. Re:not hard cosmic radiation by wierd_w · 2014-08-19 11:25 · Score: 2
  
  Yes and no-- Depends on what the ISS's orbit is. If it has a circumpolar orbit, (crosses the polar region), then it will pass through the magnetic field lines that funnel cosmic particles into the atmosphere that cause the northern lights. EG-- it would get beamed pretty intensely with concentrated cosmic particles.
  If it does not have that kind of orbit, and instead stays around the equator, then no so much. Mostly radiation free, compared to outside the magnetosphere.
  What we need to do, is send a lander to the moon loaded with some microbial and planktonic colonies, where it can get beamed by high intensity, raw solar wind radiation, (And more importantly, where we can keep close tabs on it easily) and measure how the colonies do over time.
  Last I checked, we have pretty much definitively determined that the moon is devoid of native flora or fauna. "Contamination" of the moon is a silly prospect.
  If we decide not to land the experiment ON the moon, we could just as easily place it in orbit around the moon, and still conduct the experiment. the moon just provides a nice stable gravity well to moor the experiment so we dont have to send oodles of fuel to keep station, which is conveniently close by, and outside the magnetosphere of the planet.
  I am actually surprised that there are so few experiments geared at empirically testing terrestrial microorganisms against the "Inhospitable environment" of space.
  I strongly suspect it has more to do with the politics of not having to contemplate panspermia as a probable/reasonable factor in scientific debate than anything else.
2. Re:not hard cosmic radiation by slew · 2014-08-19 12:07 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Yes and no-- Depends on what the ISS's orbit is. If it has a circumpolar orbit, (crosses the polar region), then it will pass through the magnetic field lines that funnel cosmic particles into the atmosphere that cause the northern lights. EG-- it would get beamed pretty intensely with concentrated cosmic particles.
  If it does not have that kind of orbit, and instead stays around the equator, then no so much. Mostly radiation free, compared to outside the magnetosphere.
  ISS orbit track here... Quite equatorial...
  
  What we need to do, is send a lander to the moon loaded with some microbial and planktonic colonies, where it can get beamed by high intensity, raw solar wind radiation, (And more importantly, where we can keep close tabs on it easily) and measure how the colonies do over time.
  Accidentally did that back in '67 with Surveyor 3...
  
  The 50-100 organisms survived launch, space vacuum, 3 years of radiation exposure, deep-freeze at an average temperature of only 20 degrees above absolute zero, and no nutrient, water or energy source. (The United States landed 5 Surveyors on the Moon; Surveyor 3 was the only one of the Surveyors visited by any of the six Apollo landings. No other life forms were found in soil samples retrieved by the Apollo missions or by two Soviet unmanned sampling missions, although amino acids - not necessarily of biological origin - were found in soil retrieved by the Apollo astronauts.)
3. Re:not hard cosmic radiation by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-19 20:48 · Score: 0
  
  Actually, it's only the soft component of cosmic radiation, including solar energetic particles, that gets deflected by the earth's magnetic field and accumulates in the Van Allen belts. The hard component - higher-energy cosmic rays - punch straight through the magnetic field, and interact in the upper atmosphere. They get down low enough to increase your radiation exposure when you're on a passenger flight, so they're definitely passing through the altitude range where the ISS orbits.
4. Re:not hard cosmic radiation by MichaelSmith · 2014-08-19 22:23 · Score: 1
  
  Plenty of biological material was left on the surface in jettison bags during the apollo missions. Its going to be interesting when those bags get retrieved. In fact I wonder if it justifies a sample return mission right now.
  
  --
  http://michaelsmith.id.au
Proposed Experiment by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-19 10:55 · Score: 1

we're planning to go to mars in a few years, right? so let's go ahead and send a probe full of micro-organisms to mars. when we get there in a few years, check the landing site to see how they are doing. if we end up not going there (in person), red rover, red rover, send curiosity right over.
1. Re:Proposed Experiment by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-21 13:02 · Score: 0
  
  Yep. If the ISS picked this plankton up on the way to orbit, or if the ISS is collecting the plankton as it orbits earth, suggesting that the plankton is floating around in high orbit above us, then there could also exist a possibility the the Mars rovers and orbiters we've been sending out could have been contaminated on their way through our atmosphere also.
  So, yeah, with the discovery reported in this article, maybe we've already sent micro-organisms to Mars ahead of any manned landings there, despite the efforts to prevent that from happening.
Dear Mr. Krabs, by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-19 11:25 · Score: 0

Please be aware that the krabby patty recipe is not necessarily secure in space.
Yours Truly,
Spongebob
He's just looking by geekoid · 2014-08-19 11:37 · Score: 1

for a second location for the Chum Bucket.

--
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
Plankton? by viperidaenz · 2014-08-19 11:41 · Score: 1

Plinktun on the ISS? It's beached as bro.
Question by Mister+Liberty · 2014-08-19 11:53 · Score: 1

Does this make proving "there is no whale on this spaceship" harder, or doesn't it?
I suspect the Japanese by mbone · 2014-08-19 12:00 · Score: 1

I suspect the Japanese, and specifically the Japanese resupply modules (and that is not a joke). They are launched near the coast from a culture that makes extensive use of sea-weed; either way there could be contamination with sea plankton.
The idea that plankton could drift by itself up to orbital regions is... interesting. The idea that it could survive a 7 km/sec impact with Station is not; I don't think that is viable on either sense of the term.
1. Re:I suspect the Japanese by Applehu+Akbar · 2014-08-19 12:36 · Score: 2
  
  Actually they were launched from the coast and from the culture of Florida, like all the other non-Russian modules:
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K...
2. Re:I suspect the Japanese by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-19 12:52 · Score: 0
  
  I agree: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Green_Slime ...shot in Japan at the studios of Toei Company by director Kinji Fukasaku.
Call Dr. Jeremy Stone... by jpellino · 2014-08-19 12:07 · Score: 1

he knows what to do with stuff that hitchhikes on spacecraft.

--
"Win treats sysadmins better than users. Mac treats users better than sysadmins. Linux treats everyone like sysadmins."
Call out the Wildfire team and Michael Crichton by nicoleb_x · 2014-08-19 13:36 · Score: 1

I guess this isn't exactly The Andromeda Strain (1969), by Michael Crichton, but it was my first thought.
1. Re:Call out the Wildfire team and Michael Crichton by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-19 14:23 · Score: 0
  
  Christ, I had to scroll to the fucking bottom to find an Andromeda Strain reference. Awesome book. Reading it made me realize I know less than jack shit about human physiology (and I read tons of stuff).
2. Re:Call out the Wildfire team and Michael Crichton by MichaelSmith · 2014-08-19 22:25 · Score: 1
  
  Lets hope it doesn't start by attacking rubber seals.
  
  --
  http://michaelsmith.id.au
Dirty by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-19 14:38 · Score: 0

Earth is a very dirty place.
Even the Oceans of Earth can launch spores into space.
Something that NASA cannot do.
ISS is just moping up the spores the Oceans Launch !
Planet Earth poses a danger to the Cosmos ! Viral Infections on a Cosmic Scale !
Annihilate it !
Te he he
Obligatory by clovis · 2014-08-19 15:03 · Score: 1

I, for one, welcome our new planktonic overlords.
1. Re:Obligatory by Necroloth · 2014-08-20 02:33 · Score: 1
  
  the feeling is... planktonic
2. Re:Obligatory by weilawei · 2014-08-20 14:48 · Score: 1
  
  For once, they really are over us.
Strange by nospam007 · 2014-08-19 21:52 · Score: 1

Where could that come from? I would understand it if the rockets or shuttles docking up there would start near the ocean, let's say Florida, but hey, I'm no marine biologist, that's a job for George Costanza.
Russian conspiracy for our bodily fluids. by Imazalil · 2014-08-20 01:40 · Score: 1

Don't trust the Russians. They're after our bodily fluids, this is just the first step. Alien plankton on ISS found... plankton also in sea... sea water evaporates... all water is contaminated. There's a reason they only drink vodka.
-- dammit, I can't think of an actual quote from the movie.
At least it wasn't by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-20 01:51 · Score: 0

Mynocks...those thins love to chew on the power cables.
Dubious source by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-20 01:52 · Score: 0

Ok, given Russia's recent resurgence in the propoganda market, I am going to give this finding a grain of salt until someone else publishes ... outside of Russia!
Nightmare at 20,000 Kilometres by Dabido · 2014-08-20 04:42 · Score: 1

Several surveys proved that these organisms can even develop.
*looks out window* I think I can see something on the solar panel ...

--
Sure enough, the cow costume was hanging up next to the superhero outfit and sailors uniform. (S,Spud)
This was suggested when I was in high school.... by markhb · 2014-08-20 08:06 · Score: 1

"There are those who believe that life here, began out there...." -- Battlestar Galactica

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Save Maine's economy: write stuff down. All comments are exclusively my own, not my employer.
Spores from Space by iMactheKnife · 2014-08-20 10:05 · Score: 1

SO THAT's the way life got seeded on Earth! Mis-directed panspermia!
OldMeme. Apply directly to the wastebin. by Dogtanian · 2014-08-20 10:47 · Score: 1

They look completely different. Watch:

Human
*puts forehead ridge on*
Alien
AlienOn. Apply directly to the forehead.
AlienOn. Apply directly to the forehead.
AlienOn. Apply directly to the forehead.
AlienOn. Apply directly to the forehead.

--
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
Re:So, now it's official then. There's life out th by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-20 14:42 · Score: 0

The law of unintended consequences wins again. Life finds a way. Might as well just start defining it as, "that shit that starts existing no matter what we do to it". Kinda like reality, which just won't go away (apologies to PKD).
Reality of life... by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-20 16:23 · Score: 0

We've been fed incorrect information about the nature of life for millennia. Whether this has or hasn't been intentional may be beside the point. You may recall that Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake for daring to believe that the earth revolves around the sun, and that the sun is simply one of millions of stars in the sky. Galileo was similarly forced to recant his heliocentric beliefs, and was forced to live under house arrest for 7 years, until he died in 1642.
More recently, we've surely been intentionally misled. In February 1953, the Air Force issued Regulation 200-2, ordering air base officers to publicly discuss UFO incidents only if they were judged to have been solved, and to classify all the unsolved cases to keep them out of the public eye. In other words, it became illegal for Air Force personnel to report UFO sightings unless approved by USAF high command. In December 1953, Joint Army-Navy-Air Force Regulation number 146 made it a crime for military personnel to discuss classified UFO reports with unauthorized persons. Violators faced up to two years in prison and/or fines of up to $10,000. Obviously, despite the attitude portrayed in the media, the Air Force and armed forces in general have been taking UFO sightings quite seriously for a long time!
In the meantime, check out the 2001 National Press Club Conference Youtube video on "The Disclosure Project". It WILL amaze you. I promise!
But is it really plankton? by Anonymous Coward · 2014-08-20 18:34 · Score: 0

Or perhaps they just learned to imitoot sea plankton exarctly?