On Wed, August 20, 2014 17:05, Joe Bauman via Utah-Astronomy wrote:
The problem with assuming it's spacewalking-caused contamination can be summed up in two words: Why plankton?
Several launch sites are near the ocean, I believe. Manufacturing sites may be near the ocean as well. How much plankton is in the air near launch and manufacturing sites? Don't vehicles often sit on a launch pad some time before being launched? How well protected are these sites from particulates in the air? Can plankton be found on launch surfaces? I rather like the idea of plankton hitching a ride to space on a rocket. Like little tiny micro-astronauts. Of course no one can yet eliminate the possibility that plankton some how found a way to space through some natural process. If we found a great deal of plankton in space, more than could possibly arrive via space vehicle contamination, then a natural process would seem likely. First, these folks will have to identify sources of potential contamination and control them in an experiment. What isn't clear in the article is how many other microorganisms besides plankton were identified. Is it only plankton? That'd be a real head-scratcher. -Ryan