The International Space Station (ISS) has really served to be one of the greatest assets for scientific discoveries as it allows to conduct experiments that cannot be done here on the planet.
As we all know, humanity is making tremendous efforts to understand worlds beyond our own, search for extra-terrestrial life and figuring out how we could one day survive in hugely different habitats on other planets and their moons. We are therefore conducting many, many experiments to further our understanding.
One such experiment called BIOMEX (Biology and Mars Experiment) on board the ISS was undertaken to find out whether organisms that are found on Earth, could survive on Mars.
There have been loads of discoveries in the recent times that make Mars a more and more promising place to find the first extra-terrestrial life and thanks to the results of this experiment, we know that it may be possible after all.
Organisms Survive The Vacuum
Several organisms found on Earth like algae, bacteria, fungi, lichens went through an 18 month stress test in space outside the ISS, where they were exposed to the vacuum of space and all the harsh conditions that come with it, like extreme radiation and temperature variations.
To everyone's surprise, not only did some of the organisms survived, they showed tremendous resistance to these harsh conditions and returned to Earth still alive, leading scientists to believe that if these organisms can survive in these conditions, then there is a chance that these could be candidates for life forms that we might discover on Mars in the future.
The researchers were quick to point out that the success of this experiment doesn't actually prove that there are life forms on Mars but it shows that it is quite possible for the organism to survive the harsh conditions of Mars.
Mars' name always comes up first as far as search of extra-terrestrial life is concerned, especially because predictions show that the red planet once had oceans of water, and that it could have been teeming with life billions of years ago. Will we find some evidence of past life or may be even current life in our near future? Time will tell.