Living bacteria found on outside of the Space Station ‘is not from Earth’, astronaut claims

Rob Waugh
·Contributor
Bacteria found on International Space Station may be alien in origin, says cosmonaut
Bacteria found on International Space Station may be alien in origin, says cosmonaut

A Russian cosmonaut who is taking his third trip to the Space Station this year has claimed that bacteria found on the structure ‘might not be from Earth’.

Flight engineer Anton Shkaplerov says he believes that the bacteria may have come from ‘somewhere in space’.

Shklaperov told Russian news agency TASS that cosmonauts took swabs from the station’s metal surfaces – and found bacteria which wasn’t present at the station’s launch in 1998.

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He said in an interview with TASS, ‘They have come from outer space and settled along the external surface.

‘They are being studied so far and it seems that they pose no danger.’

NASA astronaut Terry Virts (left), Russian cosmonaut Anton Shklaperov and Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti sit in chairs outside the Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft just minutes after they landed in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan,
NASA astronaut Terry Virts (left), Russian cosmonaut Anton Shklaperov and Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti sit in chairs outside the Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft just minutes after they landed in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan,

Naturally, some news outlets have jumped on this as proof of alien life – but it’s more likely that the bacteria originally came from Earth.

Earlier this year, the Russian space agency Roscosmos reported via TASS that experiments had found traces of micro-organisms from Earth clinging onto the station’s hull.

It’s also worth noting that Russian news agencies have been known to report strange and fantastical stories as if they are fact.

Shklaperov also said that bacteria from within the station were found on the exterior – surviving in near-vacuum, and with temperatures going from -150C up to 150C.

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