In previous posts, we’ve talked about the many broad and far-reaching characteristics of mold. We talked about the fungus that’s the largest living organism, human-killing mold, home-collapsing mold, mold in the Bible, and mold masquerading as a Mummy’s ancient curse. Now the influence of mold has reached into the Final Frontier. That’s right – Space Mold!
It started when an unknown film was found covering a porthole in the Mir space station. Even though the porthole was made with extra-hard quartz glass and mounted on titanium covered with enamel, the substance caused visible signs of deterioration – and it was spreading.
As if the Mir space station didn’t already have enough problems. Now mold is rapidly multiplying in the orbiting vessel, eating through equipment, and posing a definite threat to the astronauts.
How can mold survive in space? Mold spores are very resilient. This is the same stuff that survived in King Tut’s chamber for 3,000 years before infecting Howard Carter’s team of archaeologists. Spores have a hardened outer shell that allows mold to survive for very long periods of time under very harsh conditions, like low or high temperatures and without water. Scientists even speculate that spores may allow life to be transferred through outer space riding on meteorites.
But mold in spacecrafts is actually nothing new. It’s been a problem since 1980 when it was found on the fifth main mission to the former Soviet Union’s space station. Since then, mold has created problems on Salyut 6 and the International Space Station. At least 107 species of fungi have been found on Mir.
Fortunately, this isn’t alien fungi bent on the invasion of planet Earth. It actually originates here on earth, and hitches a ride to space on astronauts. Everyone has some mold in their bodies and it is normal. But it is dangerous enough to space missions that precautions now have to be taken. Cargo is disinfected, cosmonauts are quarantined before missions, and spacecrafts are pumped with a mixture of ethylene oxide and methyl chloride to kill the microorganisms.
But even this toxic gas is not enough to kill all of the mold. Every two weeks, astronauts must carefully vacuum the station and wipe down surfaces with disinfecting cleaners.
It just goes to show you that you can’t escape mold. Not even in outer space. And it isn’t going away. We have to continue to look for ways to deal with mold and prevent it from becoming a problem in our lives.
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