Life found on Ryugu asteroid sample, but it’s not as exciting as it sounds

Researchers at Imperial College London recently examined a rock sample from outer space, hoping to find evidence of extraterrestrial life. However, they discovered that the microbes present on the sample actually originated from Earth.

The sample was collected from the Ryugu asteroid during Japan’s Hayabusa2 mission in 2019 and brought back to Earth in 2020. Despite strict contamination controls, including hermetically-sealed transportation and nitrogen-purged clean rooms, terrestrial microbes were found on the sample’s surface within a week of exposure to Earth’s atmosphere.

The study, titled Rapid colonization of a space-returned Ryugu sample by terrestrial microorganisms, highlights the importance of robust safeguards in handling extraterrestrial material to prevent contamination. While this discovery may have dashed hopes of finding alien life, it underscores the need for careful handling and further research in this field.

Although the presence of terrestrial microbes on the Ryugu sample doesn’t necessarily mean that all samples are contaminated, any claims of extraterrestrial life discovery on the material will now face increased scrutiny. This finding serves as a valuable lesson for future research efforts involving extraterrestrial samples.