Moon decaying due to bacteria left by Apollo mission?

Need your help on this one ATS. I have a hard time believing we left something on the moon that is actually eating away and it and threatening it's future. Some of you guys have a lot of insight and knowledge about our satellite. Please help me figure this one out. Thanks!!

Source:

www.nature.com...

=======

Pictures captured by an orbiting spacecraft have revealed that the Moon is being heavily eroded. Images of the lunar surface reveal deep cracks and holes that are slowly but surely releasing gas and dust into space.

"This is serious," says Brad Kawalkowizc, an astrogeologist from the Sprodj Atomic Research Centre in Belgium, who has analysed the pictures. "There really is less Moon up there than there used to be." If the process continues, he adds, the Moon could eventually crumble away to nothing.

Researchers are not yet certain what is causing the erosion. Kawalkowizc suggests that bacteria left behind by the Apollo Moon landings of the 1960s and 1970s may be responsible. These earthly bacteria, exposed to intense ultraviolet radiation on the lunar surface, could have acquired mutations that allow them to digest Moon rocks, he suggests.

"If those guys didn't wipe their feet when they stepped off the craft then, yes, there could be bugs up there eating the rock," he says. "And after three decades there must be tonnes of them."

I'm amazed that we didn't notice this before.

Earnest Sober
EcoLunar



Crater fuss

Tycho crater, the youngest large-impact crater on the Moon's nearside, is particularly badly affected. The erosion has already revealed a large slab of jet-black rock deep in the crater, which has unusual magnetic properties. "We hope to send a manned expedition to investigate," says Haywood Floyd, a senior official with the Canadian National Council of Aeronautics, Newfoundland.

Recriminations are already brewing over why astronomers didn't spot the problem earlier. Amateurs on the ground have reported, on an almost monthly basis, that the light reflected from the Moon shows a dimming pattern: perhaps a sign that its weathered surface was becoming less reflective.

"I'm amazed that we didn't notice this before," says Earnest Sober of EcoLunar, a California-based charity that campaigns for sustainable management of the Moon. "We've only got one Moon and it's about time we started paying it a bit more attention."

One thing on which experts agree is that the Moon's disintegration would be a disaster, as tides on Earth would effectively stop. "This really would be bad for us," comments Pete Swell of the World Surfers' Association. "Life would sure be a lot less fun. And I guess, like, fish and ecosystems might totally be affected too."

Time and tide

But others are seeing a positive side. "Without tides, there would be no need to upgrade London's flood defences for the next two centuries," says coastal geologist Barry Surge of the University of Middle England in Barnstaple, UK. "As it is, if you live on the River Thames flood plain, the Moon is your enemy."

John Koenig, director of Moonbase Alpha, a US project to establish a habitable colony on the Moon, insists that there is absolutely nothing to worry about. "There's absolutely nothing to worry about," he told [email protected]. "Do you really think we would invest in building a base on prime interplanetary real estate that is evaporating?"

The images of the Moon were captured on 1 April by the Floating Optical Orbital Lens, as part of a multinational effort to photograph the Apollo landing sites. The mission aims to prove, once and for all and at fantastic expense, that the NASA astronauts really did go there.

Ok so in about a few hundred years we won't have a moon, but honestly how is that going to affect us? If the moon were to erode in the next 50 years, plans would be made to make an artifical satilitte in orbit that would act like our moon. No biggie, we have the technology...we can rebuild it.

This is an April Fool's Day joke.

* Well done for spotting, as we're sure you did, that this story is not in fact true. [email protected] would like to assure readers that, outside the realm of April Fool's Day, the Moon remains bacteria-free until anyone proves otherwise.

Taken from the site you listed.

_____________________________________________________________
Be Cool
K_OS

had me guessing up until this point

Tycho crater, the youngest large-impact crater on the Moon's nearside, is particularly badly affected. The erosion has already revealed a large slab of jet-black rock deep in the crater, which has unusual magnetic properties. "We hope to send a manned expedition to investigate," says Haywood Floyd, a senior official with the Canadian National Council of Aeronautics, Newfoundland.

That is straight out of 2001

NO IT ISN'T K_OS LOOK AT THE INFORMATION IN THE WEB SITE
But seriously, what are we going to do when the moon erodes due to this bacteria?

-Your friend Liquid

[edit on 103030p://555 by LiquidationOfDiscrepancy]

We need to launch a penicillin probe, and quickly..

Originally posted by LiquidationOfDiscrepancy
NO IT ISN'T K_OS LOOK AT THE INFORMATION IN THE WEB SITE

But seriously, what are we going to do when the moon erodes due to this bacteria?

-Your friend Liquid

[edit on 103030p://555 by LiquidationOfDiscrepancy]

Click on the link and look at the bottom.

It says this...

Time and tide

But others are seeing a positive side. "Without tides, there would be no need to upgrade London's flood defences for the next two centuries," says coastal geologist Barry Surge of the University of Middle England in Barnstaple, UK. "As it is, if you live on the River Thames flood plain, the Moon is your enemy."

John Koenig, director of Moonbase Alpha, a US project to establish a habitable colony on the Moon, insists that there is absolutely nothing to worry about. "There's absolutely nothing to worry about," he told [email protected]. "Do you really think we would invest in building a base on prime interplanetary real estate that is evaporating?"

The images of the Moon were captured on 1 April by the Floating Optical Orbital Lens, as part of a multinational effort to photograph the Apollo landing sites. The mission aims to prove, once and for all and at fantastic expense, that the NASA astronauts really did go there.

* Well done for spotting, as we're sure you did, that this story is not in fact true. [email protected] would like to assure readers that, outside the realm of April Fool's Day, the Moon remains bacteria-free until anyone proves otherwise.

"Floating Optical Orbital Lens" FOOL. The UV and the radiation would kill them anyway.

It's true, it's on the internet, it has to be true!

Originally posted by sardion2000

Originally posted by LiquidationOfDiscrepancy
NO IT ISN'T K_OS LOOK AT THE INFORMATION IN THE WEB SITE

But seriously, what are we going to do when the moon erodes due to this bacteria?

-Your friend Liquid

[edit on 103030p://555 by LiquidationOfDiscrepancy]

Click on the link and look at the bottom.

It says this...

Time and tide

But others are seeing a positive side. "Without tides, there would be no need to upgrade London's flood defences for the next two centuries," says coastal geologist Barry Surge of the University of Middle England in Barnstaple, UK. "As it is, if you live on the River Thames flood plain, the Moon is your enemy."

John Koenig, director of Moonbase Alpha, a US project to establish a habitable colony on the Moon, insists that there is absolutely nothing to worry about. "There's absolutely nothing to worry about," he told [email protected]. "Do you really think we would invest in building a base on prime interplanetary real estate that is evaporating?"

The images of the Moon were captured on 1 April by the Floating Optical Orbital Lens, as part of a multinational effort to photograph the Apollo landing sites. The mission aims to prove, once and for all and at fantastic expense, that the NASA astronauts really did go there.

* Well done for spotting, as we're sure you did, that this story is not in fact true. [email protected] would like to assure readers that, outside the realm of April Fool's Day, the Moon remains bacteria-free until anyone proves otherwise.

I know, hence the wink Just trying to keep the spirit alive!

-your friend Liquid

Didn't see that doh. It's officially april 2nd now so just trying to keep it real You know how this place can be sometimes heh

Some Bacteria really did survive during one of the Apollo missions. It survived inside one of the Cameras that they used on the moon.

Though It was some what protected in the Camera it managed to survive very harsh conditions on the moon.

if the moon is gone..... we need to create an articfically similar gravity planet....or else whole wide tsunami will appear.... volcano erupt.....earth quake due to imbalance gravity pull between moon to earth to sun and the other planet.......omg.....ahah...

LOL thanks for spotting that. I couldn't believe it either and missed that part of the story.

Originally posted by LiquidationOfDiscrepancy

I know, hence the wink

Just trying to keep the spirit alive!

-your friend Liquid

yeh yeh... *notices the edit*



(jk)

[edit on 2/4/05 by Klepto]

Haha, I love how they "interviewed" the surfer. "And I guess, like, life and ecosystems and stuff could eb tottaly affected too."

Originally posted by Klepto

Originally posted by LiquidationOfDiscrepancy

I know, hence the wink

Just trying to keep the spirit alive!

-your friend Liquid

yeh yeh... *notices the edit*



(jk)

[edit on 2/4/05 by Klepto]

In your Avatar I thought that was a private part coming out between that guys legs, after looking more closely I found out it was just the dog's leg