Could an Earthly Fungus Contaminate Mars? NASA May Have Found One Hardy E...

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Could an Earthly Fungus Contaminate Mars? NASA May Have Found One Hardy Enough.

Researchers identified a species that can survive radiation, extreme heat and simulated Martian soil, posing a new challenge for protocols intended to keep the red planet pristine.

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The scientists’ findings reveal that, unless NASA’s cleaning protocols change, exploration of the surface of Mars could inadvertently contaminate the planet with hyper-resilient colonizing spores.

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NASA/JPL-CalTech, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

By

Emily Baumgaertner Nunn

April 24, 2026,

5:02 a.m. ET

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Pop quiz: If you were an astronaut trying to endure extreme conditions, where should you look for inspiration? Sandra Bullock in “Gravity”? Ryan Gosling in “Project Hail Mary”? Wrong. Try an asexual reproductive spore.

One in particular, from a fungus called Aspergillus calidoustus, has proved itself almost unkillable. A group of researchers recently identified the strain living inside NASA facilities where Mars mission components are assembled, and subjected it to a litany of brutal challenges that simulate those of space travel and Mars itself. The verdict: the Terminator of microbes.

The scientists’ findings, published this week in the journal

Applied and Environmental Microbiology

, are not just good science trivia. They reveal that, unless NASA’s cleaning protocols change, the robotic systems that explore the surface of Mars could inadvertently infect the planet with hyper-resilient colonizing spores.

“This is really about doing exploration responsibly,” said Atul M. Chander, a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Mississippi, who was the first author on the publication. “As we explore this universe, we want to be able to send aircraft without bringing any hardy Earth microbes,” he said.

NASA follows international guidelines called the Planetary Protection protocol, aimed at making sure Earth’s biology doesn’t taint celestial bodies, and vice versa. The agency also has a dedicated team, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s biotechnology and planetary protection group, or B.P.P.G., that oversees efforts to avoid cross-contamination on missions.

Several scientists behind the new research, including the study’s leader, Kasthuri Venkateswaran, a former senior scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, have worked in the protection group, so they knew firsthand that hardy microbes existed. Still, Dr. Venkateswaran called the fungal strain’s survival “remarkable.”

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