Microbes Survive Simulated Asteroid Ejection

A Johns Hopkins team used a gas gun to expose Deinococcus radiodurans to impact pressures (1–3 gigapascals) mimicking asteroid ejection and found high survival rates (near‑complete survival at ~1.4 GPa, ~60% at 2.4 GPa). The experiment provides quantified, repeatable lab evidence that some microbes could survive the violent launch phase of interplanetary transfer. — If microbes can survive ejection and transit, debates about the origin of life, Mars sample‑return safeguards, and planetary‑protection rules gain new empirical urgency.