Bacteria improve the chances of life in space

All the bacteria that have adjusted to hostile conditions on Earth indicate that several planets and moons in the Solar System could be the home of yet undiscovered extremophiles.

HARD BACTERIUM WAS BORN TO LIVE ON MARS

The atmosphere on Mars is thin and makes up poor protection against solar radiation. However, that is not a problem for the world's hardest bacterium, Deinococcus

radiodurans, which would stand a good chance of survival on Mars. Apart from resisting radiation levels 1,000 times higher than humans can, it can probably also handle the cold of down to -150 °C by Mars' poles.

EUROPA'S OCEAN FLOOR COULD INCLUDE LIFE

Jupiter's Europa moon is one of the best candidates of the Solar System to include microbial life. Scientists have found ice

on the surface and are convinced that there is an ocean beneath it. Heat could flow into the ocean from the moon's interior via cracks in the crust. Sulphate also escapes via the cracks, making the water acidic – perfect for the Candidatus Desulforudis audaxviator bacterium.

TITAN'S LAKES MIGHT BE DUE TO BACTERIA

Thanks to the Cassini-Huygens probe, scientists have found evidence that methane-producing organisms might exist on the

Saturn moon of Titan. In several places on the moon's surface, there are liquid methane lakes and ice, which might hide liquid water beneath them. The methane lakes could be maintained by methaneproducing bacteria, that feed on ethane, acetylene, and hydrogen in the atmosphere.