From: jamesoberg@aol.com (JamesOberg) Newsgroups: sci.space.science Subject: Caution! Moon Bugs Mistake? Date: 12 Aug 1996 19:17:25 -0400 It is widely believed that streptococcus germs aboard Surveyor-3 (inside the TV camera) survived their three-year lunar sojourn and were brought back to Earth by the Apollo-12 crew. Leonard D. Jaffe was Surveyor project scientist and custodian of the Surveyor 3 parts brought back from the moon. He wrote to the Planetary Society recently that according to report from somebody on his staff who had witnessed the biological test which gave positive results, a "breach of sterile procedure" took place at just the right time to produce a false positive result. One of the implements being used to scrape samples off the Surveyor parts was laid down on a non-sterile laboratory bench, and then was used to collect surface samples for culturing. It was that sample set which showed the presence of the germs, a common human infectuous bacteria. Concluded Dr. Jaffe, "It is, therefore, quite possible that the microorganisms were transferred to the camera after its return to Earth, and that they had never been to the Moon." The test, of course, could only be performed once, and the parts were subsequently taken out of quarantine and fully re-exposed to terrestrial conditions, so we'll never know for sure. But it looks suspiciously like a lab error rather than a lunar germ colony. From: jamesoberg@aol.com (JamesOberg) Newsgroups: sci.space.history Subject: Re: Earth Microbes On The Moon Date: 4 Sep 1998 21:19:02 GMT I just talked with Leonard Jaffe, he stands by his letter in the "Planetary Report" (Nov-Dec 1994, page 3) expressing skepticism that the microbes had ever been to the moon. "A person on my staff witnessed the biological test that led to the finding of terrestrial microorganisms on the camera. He reported that a breach of sterile procedure had occurred: an implement used in the test was put down on a nonsterile laboratory bench and then, without re-sterilization, touched to the camera. It is, therefore, quite possible that the microorganisms were transferred to the camera after its return to Earth, and that they had never been to the Moon." Newsgroups: sci.space.history From: henry@spsystems.net (Henry Spencer) Subject: Re: Earth Microbes On The Moon Date: Sat, 5 Sep 1998 18:58:29 GMT In article <1998090421190200.RAA20018@ladder01.news.aol.com>, JamesOberg <jamesoberg@aol.com> wrote: >I just talked with Leonard Jaffe, he stands by his letter in the "Planetary >Report" (Nov-Dec 1994, page 3) expressing skepticism that the microbes had ever >been to the moon. "A person on my staff witnessed the biological test that led >to the finding of terrestrial microorganisms on the camera. He reported that a >breach of sterile procedure had occurred... Given how unreliable human memory is, I'm less than happy with trusting a third-hand report nearly thirty years after the fact. In any case, as the original report in "Analysis of Surveyor 3 material and photographs returned by Apollo 12" made clear, there really is nothing very remarkable about a few tough bacteria surviving in that particular location (deep within the camera). The one aspect of lunar conditions that is a real problem for bacteria is high temperatures, and thermal modelling of the camera estimated the maximum internal temperature at 70degC, which is not a big problem for bacteria. And the Surveyors were *not* sterilized. >"...an implement used in the test was put >down on a nonsterile laboratory bench and then, without re-sterilization, >touched to the camera." Note that there were no bacteria found on the outside of the camera, or on the tools (which were checked, although probably before rather than after the sampling). The bacteria were in only one place, a nearly inaccessible layer of foam between two circuit boards. -- Being the last man on the Moon is a | Henry Spencer henry@spsystems.net very dubious honor. -- Gene Cernan | (aka henry@zoo.toronto.edu) |