Strange Space Bacteria Found by China Astronauts Could Change What We Know About Life
Amazing Bacteria Found on China’s Space Station
Have you ever wondered what life is like on a space station? Astronauts, or “taikonauts” as they are called in China, live and work in space for many months. They do important science experiments. Sometimes, they find surprises! This happened on the Chinese Tiangong Space Station. The crew found a new kind of bacteria living right inside the station. This is a big deal, and scientists are excited to learn more.
Discovery of Niallia tiangongensis
The Chinese Tiangong Space Station has been orbiting Earth since September 2021. It is smaller than the International Space Station, only about one-third its size. But it is full of exciting discoveries. Four years after Tiangong launched, scientists found something special. They found a new kind of bacteria. They named it Niallia tiangongensis.
This bacteria is not like any other found on Earth. The news was shared in a special science paper. The paper was written by experts at the Beijing Institute of Spacecraft System Engineering. It was published in the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology.
Scientists say that Niallia tiangongensis can do something amazing. It can break down gelatin. Gelatin is a kind of protein. This means the bacteria can eat gelatin even when there isn’t much food. This is important because space is a very tough place. There is not much food or water. Bacteria that can survive like this are very interesting to study.
The bacteria were collected from inside the space station. Scientists found it on the cockpit controls, where the taikonauts work. They used swabs to collect samples in May 2023. The samples were frozen and sent back to Earth. This helped the scientists study the bacteria more closely.
A researcher said, “This discovery highlights the complex and resilient nature of microbial life. Even in highly controlled environments like Tiangong, life finds ways to adapt and persist.” This means that even in a place with lots of rules and cleaning, tiny living things can change and survive.
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Bacterial Cousins and Space Mutations
It turns out that Niallia tiangongensis is related to a bacteria on Earth called Niallia circulans. This cousin bacteria is strong. It can live in rough places like soil, dirty water, and even food. Niallia circulans has a thick cell wall, which helps protect it. It can also form spores, which are like tiny shields. These spores help the bacteria survive when things get really tough.
Sometimes, bacteria like Niallia circulans can make people sick. It can cause infections, like abscesses or even blood poisoning. But scientists don’t know yet if Niallia tiangongensis is dangerous to people. It might be safe, or it might not. More research is needed.
There is something even more interesting. The space station bacteria shows new changes, called mutations. These changes might help scientists understand how life adapts to space. In space, everything is different. There is less gravity. There is more radiation. It is very clean, but also very harsh. Bacteria might change to survive in these new conditions.
In fact, there have been other strange bacteria found in space. On the International Space Station (ISS), scientists found a mutated strain of Enterobacter bugandensis. It was different from the same bacteria found on Earth. The study said, “A hypothesis central to our study was that the singular nature of the stresses of the space environment, distinct from any on Earth, could be driving these genomic adaptations.” This means that being in space causes bacteria to change in new ways.
Keeping Astronauts Safe and Healthy
Scientists are working hard to keep astronauts safe. They want to make sure the new bacteria are not harmful. Researchers from the Shenzhou Space Biotechnology Group said that more study is “essential” to protect space explorers’ health and wellbeing.
It is very important to know what kinds of germs are living on the space station. Even the smallest bacteria can cause big problems in space. If someone gets sick, it is harder to get help. That’s why the scientists are so careful.
One year before the new discovery, scientists found another mutated bacteria on the ISS. It was called Enterobacter bugandensis. This bacteria can sometimes make people sick, especially in hospitals. The study said, “Enterobacter species act as opportunistic human pathogens, causing nosocomial infections with bacteremia, lower respiratory tract, osteomyelitis, sepsis, and urinary tract infection.” This means it can cause infections in people who are already sick.
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That is why it is so important to study bacteria in space. Scientists hope their research will help keep astronauts healthy. As they learn more, they can find better ways to clean the stations and stop harmful bacteria from spreading.
SpaceX and NASA: Teamwork in Space
Space is full of surprises, not just bacteria! Sometimes, astronauts have to stay in space longer than they planned. This happened to NASA astronauts Sunita 'Suni' Williams and Barry 'Butch' Wilmore. They traveled to the ISS for an eight-day mission. But the spacecraft meant to bring them home was not safe. So, they had to stay nine months longer!
To bring them home safely, SpaceX launched its Dragon spacecraft with Crew-10. The launch was from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Crew-10 included NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov.
The Dragon spacecraft docked with the ISS at 12:04 a.m. EDT. The space station was flying 260 miles above the Atlantic Ocean. The hatches opened at 1:35 a.m. The new crew was greeted by Expedition 72, including NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Don Petitt, Suni Williams, and Butch Wilmore, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Aleksandr Gorbunov, Alexey Ovchinin, and Ivan Vagner.
There was live video coverage. You could see the astronauts hugging each other in zero gravity. McClain said, “Crew-10 has had a great journey up here and I cannot tell you the immense joy of our crew when we looked out the window and we saw the space station for the first time. That is such an amazing journey. You can hardly even put it into words.”
Williams told Mission Control, “It was a wonderful day. Great to see our friends arrive.”
SpaceX said the new crew will help bring Butch and Suni home. While on the station, the crew will also do new science research. This research will help people get ready for trips far away from Earth, and also help people who live on Earth.
There will be a two-day handover before Wilmore and Williams return to Earth. If the weather is not good, they might have to wait longer. Dana Weigel, manager of the ISS program, said, “Weather always has to cooperate, so we’ll take our time over that if it is not favourable.”
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Problems With Spacecraft and Long Missions
Going to space is not always easy. Sometimes things do not go as planned. When Barry Wilmore and Suni Williams flew to the ISS, their capsule had problems. The Boeing Starliner had five helium leaks and five thrusters stopped working.
Now, they are stuck on the ISS until a safe way home is ready. They are trying to keep their spirits up. Williams said, “We’ve been thoroughly busy up here, integrated right into the crew. It feels like coming back home. It feels good to float around. It feels good to be in space and work up with the ISS team. So yeah, it’s great to be up here.”
At first, people thought they could only survive 72 days. Now, it looks like they might stay in space until 2025. Steve Stich, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program manager, said if it is too risky to ride the Starliner home, they may have to wait for SpaceX’s Crew-9 to come and get them. But that ship will not be ready until February.
Ken Bowersox, NASA Associate Administrator for Space Operations, gave another update. He said, “We’ve had very honest discussions with each other, and I am not surprised the Boeing team are 100% behind their vehicle. But I can also tell you that they want to work with us in a partnership, which the NASA team thinks is important. When we get to a decision, we will work through it together.”
He also said, “It’s getting a lot harder. We’re reaching a point where [by] that last week in August we really should be making a call, if not sooner.”
While the astronauts wait, they are making the best of it. Bowersox said, “Butch and Suni are well engaged on the space station. It’s great to be there, enjoying the environment, eating that great space food and being able to look out the window. So I know they’re making the best of this time, but I’m sure they’re eager for a decision just like the rest of us.”
Health Checks After Long Space Trips
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Space travel is hard on the body. When astronauts come home, they get full health checkups right away. Sometimes, they have medical problems after being in space for so long.
In March, Crew-8 flew to the ISS with NASA’s Jeanette Epps, Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, and Russia’s Alexander Grebenkin. They spent 236 days in space! This is a very long time. When they landed in the Gulf of Mexico, they were all smiling and waving.
But one crew member had a health problem and had to stay in the hospital for more checks. NASA did not say who it was. Cheryl Warner, NASA’s news chief, said, “To protect the crew member's medical privacy, specific details on the individual's condition or identity will not be shared.”
She added, “The one astronaut who remains at Ascension is in stable condition under observation as a precautionary measure.” NASA thanked the hospital for helping the astronaut. They also said they will share more news when they can.
Richard Jones, NASA's deputy manager of the Commercial Crew Program, said before the hospital stay, “Right now the crew is doing great. They are going to spend a little bit of time on the recovery vessel going through their medical checks. They'll soon be on their way back to Houston after all of those are done.”
The Crew-8 astronauts were supposed to come home two months earlier. Bad weather and problems with the Boeing Starliner kept them in space longer. Jones said, “[Crew-8 was] the longest duration in space for a US crewed vehicle at 235 days.” NASA said they will keep everyone updated about the astronauts’ health.
The ‘Overview Effect’ – Seeing Earth From Space
Have you ever wondered what it feels like to see Earth from space? Former NASA astronaut Ron Garan spent 178 days in space. He says looking at our planet from above changed the way he thinks about everything.
This feeling is called the “Overview Effect.” It happens when astronauts see the whole Earth at once. It makes them think about how everyone and everything is connected. NASA says the Overview Effect “shift
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Ron Garan said in an interview, “We keep trying to deal with issues such as global warming, deforestation, biodiversity loss as stand alone issues when in reality they're just symptoms of the underlying root problem and the problem is, that we don't see ourselves as planetary.”
He explained, “When I looked out of the window of the International Space Station, I saw the paparazzi like flashes of lightening storms, I saw dancing curtains of auroras that seemed so close it was as if we could reach out and touch them and I saw the unbelievable thinness of our planet's atmosphere. In that moment I was hit by the sobering realization.”
Garan realized that Earth is protected by only a thin layer of air. This is what keeps all living things alive. He said, “I saw an iridescent biosphere teaming with life, I didn't see an economy, but since our human-made systems treat everything including the very life-support systems of our planet as the [...] subsidiary of the global economy, it's obvious from the vanish point of space that we're living a lie.”
He also said, “We need to move from thinking, economy, society, planet to planet, society, economy. That's when we're going to continue our evolutionary process. [...] We're not going to have peace on Earth until we recognize the basic fact of the interrelated structure of all reality.”
What These Discoveries Mean For Us
All these stories show that space is full of challenges and wonders. Bacteria can change and survive in space. Astronauts can spend many months away from home. Looking at Earth from space helps people see how precious our planet is.
Scientists will keep studying the bacteria from Tiangong and the ISS. They want to know if these tiny life forms are helpful or harmful. They also want to learn how to keep astronauts healthy on long trips.
Astronauts and space agencies, like NASA and China’s space program, work together to solve problems. They share their discoveries to keep everyone safe.
And maybe, when you look up at the stars, you will remember that even the smallest things, like bacteria, can make a big difference in space. And maybe one day, you will get to see the Earth from above, just like the astronauts do.
Space is exciting, and there is always something new to learn!
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