Lifeforms Can Survive on ‘Significant’ Regions of the Moon, Study Finds

Common Earth microbes can survive for up to seven days in certain shadowed regions of the Moon's south pole, according to a study published Wednesday in Science Advances, as reported by 404 Media. The findings suggest the lunar surface is less uniformly hostile to life than previously assumed.

The research team, led by Prabal Saxena, a research space scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, modeled surface conditions at candidate landing sites under consideration for crewed missions. Using remote-sensing data from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, they assessed whether bacteria and fungi commonly found on spacecraft — and therefore likely to be transported to the Moon during future missions — could endure conditions at those sites. The study concluded that "significant lunar polar areas likely have surface conditions amenable to microbial survival," per 404 Media.

The fungi Aspergillus emerged as the most resilient organism in the models. Saxena told 404 Media that Aspergillus "possesses characteristics (thick walls and dark pigments that protect them from X-rays, cosmic radiation, and UV-C radiation) that make it especially well suited to survive in regions of the lunar poles." Specific areas in regions called the Nobile Rim and Connecting Ridge showed the most hospitable conditions. The organisms would likely enter a dormant cryptobiotic state rather than actively growing or reproducing.

The shadowed polar regions are shielded from direct ultraviolet radiation, unlike most of the lunar surface, which faces extreme temperature swings and intense radiation exposure. Those permanently shadowed regions also contain water ice — a key reason the lunar south pole has been selected as the target for upcoming crewed missions. The US-led Artemis program and a Chinese-Russian space partnership both aim to land crews there during the 2030s, according to 404 Media.

The study draws on an interdisciplinary team that Saxena described as including experts in "lunar surface evolution, biochemistry, clean room microbiology, lunar surface topography/lighting and planetary protection." The team also noted that microbial life from Earth could potentially arrive on the Moon through meteoritic exchanges of rocks across space, raising the possibility that microbes may have already reached and briefly survived on the lunar surface without any human involvement.

The authors frame the results as relevant both scientifically and operationally. Saxena told 404 Media: "While we're only looking at survival in this study — and not growth or reproduction — this makes us think it's worth thinking about certain regions of the Moon in a different way scientifically and operationally with respect to microbial life." The findings are expected to inform planetary protection planning for Artemis and other missions targeting the lunar south pole.