Astronaut Microbes Might Survive at Moon's Pole, NASA Warns

Universe Today reports that one of the quieter priorities in space exploration is keeping Earth microbes from contaminating other worlds — a practice known as forward contamination. The goal is to avoid killing off any potential alien life and to prevent false discoveries. While space radiation and extreme temperatures usually kill microbes that hitch rides on spacecraft, NASA warns there's a longstanding knowledge gap about whether they could survive the Moon's polar regions, given the deep craters and varied topography there.

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