Is there anything ALIVE in the human poop left on the MOON?

[AviatorTom]

Let's end 2024 with an interesting science question...

During the Apollo moon missions, astronauts went to the moon and, to save weight for returning to Earth, they dumped their waste behind. Across all the Apollo missions, astronauts left 96 bags of human waste on the moon, and they pose a fascinating astrobiological question.

Human waste — and in particular, feces — is teeming with microbial life. With the Apollo moon landings, we took microbial life on Earth to the most extreme environment it has ever been in. Which means the waste on the moon represents a natural, though unintended, experiment.
The question the experiment could answer: How resilient is life in the face of the moon’s brutal environment? And for that matter, if microbes can survive on the moon, can they survive interplanetary or interstellar travel? If they can survive, then maybe it’s possible that life can spread from planet to planet, riding on the backs of asteroids or other such space debris.

What do you think? Is there life on the moon in those poop bags?

For more details, check out this Vox article...

https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2019/3/22/18236125/apollo-moon-poop-mars-science

[purplepoppy]

There's also supposed to be a colony of water bears there too after a little oopsie. They're pretty indestructible so who knows. Bacteria can be freeze dried and stored at very low temps so I wouldn't rule out bacteria on the moon. TB has been known to survive years in pages of books. Life can survive extremes but what it stuggles with is moving from one extreme to another, stability is the key to life, destruction breeds diversity.

The real question is why did they feel they needed to leave their poo there? Were they marking their territory.

[LeatherDame]

Seems unlikely with the lack of atmosphere and constant barrage of radiation, though fungal spores or something very limited right in the middle of a very large mound might have a slim chance?

[jshm2]

No. There is no water or oxygen in those bags to sustain anything, and the extreme cold will have killed that microbial life too.

A "secret" to tell small minds like you is that to be an astronaut you have to literally eat your own shit. The microbes in human guts mutate and die rapidly in space. Its why each astronaut has to eat specially made food that includes a lot of their own gut cultures.

Otherwise they will not only be unable to digest food, but will cause all sorts of sickness as bacteriophages and "bad bacteria" run amok.

[exitseven]

The cosmic rays mutated it into a giant poop monster. The democrats will try and run it for President in 2028

[exitseven]

Thanks for the MHO😎

[NathanDavis]

I remember a video about this...

how about peeing into space's vacuum though...

https://www.youtube.com/embed/QNP8wy3S_kY

[OlderAndWiser]

Depends on your definition of "alive." There probably are some viruses in that waste.

[Dongie]

In a few millinnial they will have evolved, built a spaceship and come to earth looking for their roots.

[msc545]

Probably not, but be sure to check...

[PepperJackson]

Now you have me wondering...