Lucas Lengsfield

There are certain places on Earth where the environment is similar to that of extraterrestrial worlds, like Mars or Europa, the Galilean moon of Jupiter. In these areas on Earth, extremophiles can be found. Extremophiles are microorganisms that can survive and multiply in extreme environments. Researchers have studied these extremophiles to see if and how life can survive on these extraterrestrial worlds.

Although previous studies have focused on examining the survival capabilities of extremophiles that live on Earth, these studies don’t fully replicate the different extraterrestrial environments. A potential solution to this would be creating a controlled laboratory environment that replicates the conditions of a planet or moon and tests the best fitting extremophile to see if and how it survives. This simulated environment could include the combination of the same temperature, salinity, radiation, and pressure that is found in the various extraterrestrial environments. This would tell us more about the habitability of the planet or moon and inform  us about how that microorganism adapts and survives.