Cosmonaut Found Extraterrestrial Bacteria on the International Space Station

Russian astronaut Anton Shkplelerov told the Tass news agency that he found extraterrestrial bacteria on the outer shell of the International Space Station (ISS) a few years ago. He claims to have discovered the bacteria during the sampling of the station's body. 

"It turns out that these bacteria were not present on the shell of the module when it was launched into space, which means they have come from the open cosmos and attached on it, so far we have studied them and it seems they are not dangerous" , said Shkplelerov.

Samples of the bacteria are sent to Earth. They are taken from places on the module where fuel residues are usually retained during the launch. There, the station's hull is more concealed than external influences.

Shkplelerov does not say when the bacteria have been discovered. He specified that terrestrial bacteria have also been found that have survived the cosmic vacuum for 3 years despite the sharp temperature changes. However, the land bacteria in question have been uploaded to the ICU unintentionally via a tablet and subsequently used for scientific experiments.

NASA has not commented on Shkplelerov's allegations. In previous years, the US and Russian space agencies have repeatedly agreed on the findings on the board of the ISS, according to CNET.

Several years ago, Russian scientists, for example, announced that they had found residues of marine plankton on the outer shell of the ISS, which for NASA scientists proved to be an unexpected surprise. However, news comes days after scientists have announced that bacteria can use space dust as transport and travel between planets.