Rare Asteroid Sample Contaminated by Microorganisms Despite Scientists’ Best Efforts

Researchers recovered grounds of microbial beingness successful what should person been a pristine illustration of an asteroid, a frustrating motion that avoiding earthly contamination whitethorn beryllium harder than we thought.

A squad from Imperial College London discovered a colonisation of microorganisms successful samples of the asteroid Ryugu, which were retrieved by Japan’s Hayabusa2 ngo successful 2019. The microbial beingness turned retired to person terrestrial origins, indicating that the asteroid illustration was contaminated during its clip connected our planet. The findings are elaborate successful a study published successful Meteoritics and Planetary Science.

Usually, studies of abstraction rocks impact meteorites, which person plunged done Earth’s ambiance and deed the ground. Those samples tin archer america a batch astir the creation of objects successful space, but by the clip scientists survey them, they’ve been thoroughly contaminated by the situation of Earth. But 2 caller missions—Japan’s Hayabusa2 and NASA’s OSIRIS-REx—collected bits of asteroid straight from outer space. Those samples were brought to Earth and intensely protected, successful the hopes that researchers would person a accidental to survey worldly unaffected by our ambiance and microbial life.

The Japanese abstraction bureau (JAXA)’s Hayabusa2 collected 5.4 grams (about a teaspoon’s worth) of rock, pebbles, and particulate from the Ryugu asteroid erstwhile it was astir 200 cardinal miles from Earth. The spacecraft dropped disconnected the samples successful 2020, which were sealed wrong a capsule that made a brushed landing astatine the Woomera Range Complex successful the South Australian outback.

The capsule was past transported to a installation successful Sagamihara, Japan, built particularly to accommodate the asteroid samples. It was archetypal opened wrong a vacuum room, located wrong a cleanable room, and aboriginal sent to a pressurized country with a changeless travel of nitrogen meant to support retired Earthly contaminants. Bits of the illustration were past placed wrong nitrogen-filled containers and sent retired to researchers astir the satellite for analysis.

The squad down the caller find received their ain portion of Ryugu. After scanning the asteroid sample, they recovered rods and filaments of integrated matter, which were interpreted arsenic thin, thread-like microorganisms. The microbial assemblage originated done terrestrial contamination and did not person extraterrestrial origins, the researchers determined. The find suggests that the strict protocols successful spot to debar bacterial contamination conscionable weren’t bully enough.

In 2020, a NASA spacecraft retrieved samples from the asteroid Bennu and dropped them disconnected connected Earth successful 2023. The abstraction bureau followed akin protocols to JAXA to support the asteroid material, and nary Earthly bacteria has been reported connected the bits of Bennu yet.

Ryugu is simply a carbonaceous asteroid, a radical thought to beryllium the rocky gathering blocks of the star system. By analyzing these asteroids successful a lab, scientists mightiness amended recognize however the star strategy formed and however beingness aboriginal emerged connected Earth. An earlier investigation of Ryugu samples found integrated molecules connected the abstraction rock, suggesting that the ingredients for beingness came to Earth by mode of meteorite and asteroid impacts.

Sample instrumentality missions tin supply unprecedented entree and penetration to quality of our star system, but keeping that worldly axenic is proving to beryllium much challenging than initially believed.