Could we introduce bacteria or other microorganisms to live on Mars, or moons with water?
Could we introduce bacteria or other microorganisms to live on Mars, or moons with water?
Could they reasonably survive? If so, what would be the effects of such an introduction?
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-49525-z#Sec2
The results of the studies showed that after two years of exposure in outer space near the ISS, all the tested microorganisms representing various domains of life survived.
It's a bit more complicated than that, but in short: yes. However, survive doesn't necessarily mean thrive.
Space agencies go to great lengths to sterilize things that leave our planet. There's several reasons for that, but the big one is not contaminating any extra-terrestrial bodies with earth organisms so that if we do find any trace of life, we can be reasonably sure it is native to where we found it and didn't stowaway on our equipment.
Meanwhile Elon Musk is launching bio-contaminants into space: https://www.vice.com/en/article/elon-musk-bacteria-contamination-spacex-tesla-panspermia/
The future is bleak as long as it's determined by people like Musk.
Chroococcidiopsis comes to mind:
Due to its resistance to harsh environmental conditions, especially low temperature, low moisture, and radiation tolerance, Chroococcidiopsis has been thought of as an organism capable of living on Mars.
As other commenters have said, the lack of water on Mars would probably prevent these guys from growing on their own. But with a little human intervention, they may be able to grow in Martian soil and help with the terraforming process (assuming we ever terraform Mars).
Edit: for anyone interested in a great vision of colonizing and terraforming Mars, I highly recommend the Mars trilogy (Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars) by Kim Stanley Robinson!
I second the recommendation of reading the Mars trilogy.