Answer 1:
Bacteria have extraordinary capacities for
survival in extreme environments. They can survive
in a vacuum and in outer space. In 1967, some
Streptococcus bacteria were accidentally
transported to the moon on the camera of one of
the Surveyor modules. Over two and a half years
later, the camera was brought back to Earth by the
Apollo 12 mission, and the stowaways were
successfully cultured from insulation of the
camera. Amazingly, the bacteria were able to
survive the vacuum of space, radiation, and
freezing temperatures for years before being
returned to Earth. It does not appear that the
bacteria could grow and spread on the moon, as
other samples collected from the soil were devoid
of life. Their hardiness is one of the reasons
scientists speculate that bacteria-like organisms
might exist on other planets and moons in our
solar system, for example in martian ice caps or
on Callisto ( a moon of Jupiter).
However, I doubt
that even bacteria could survive a trip into a
black hole. As objects approach black holes, the
tidal forces due to gravity become very strong.
Anything falling into a black hole becomes
stretched and crushed. I expect that a tiny
bacteria would eventually be sheared apart by the
massive forces, but would get closer to the center
of a black hole than humans would. Click Here to return to the search form.
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