Bacillus pumilus SAFR-032:

♤ It is a spore forming bacteria.

♤ It is being widely researched because of its observed ability to withstand harsh conditions.

♤ The significance of above bacteria needs to be understood in context of our effort to look for life on planets other than Earth.If the current space craft landing on such planets ( eg Curiosity Rover on Mars) carries with it microbes ,it will contaminate the environment of the planet.Then even if any living organism is found later , it will be impossible to ascertain wether that living organism existed from before or was brought tp the planet by any man made space craft that landed on it.

♤ To prevent above scenario,every space craft landing on a planet is sanitized and allowed to carry only a bare minimum levels of living organisms.Of course , completely sanitiosing a space craft is impossible. The assumption is that this negligible amount of living organism will not survive the harsh conditions of space travels.

♤ However, as the research shows that microbes like SAFR-032 can survive longer than expected under harsh space like conditions. This means that there is a greater chance of a microbe being carried to a planet by a man made space craft.

♤ This latest research is hence expected to push more stringent rules and standards in the domain of biological load of such space crafts ,for the future missions to such planets.

In News: Bacteria from Earth can colonise Mars: NASA - The Hindu; Earth bugs may soon hike to Mars: Nasa - The Times of India