It is widely claimed that a common type of bacterium, Streptococcus mitis, accidentally contaminated the Surveyor's camera prior to launch, and that the bacteria survived dormant in the harsh lunar environment for two and a half years, supposedly then to be detected when Apollo 12 brought the Surveyor's camera back to the Earth. This claim has been cited by some as providing credence to the idea of interplanetary panspermia, but more importantly, it led NASA to adopt strict abiotic procedures for space probes to prevent contamination of the planet Mars and other astronomical bodies that are suspected of having conditions possibly suitable for life. Most dramatically, the Galileo space probe was deliberately destroyed at the end of its mission by crashing it into Jupiter, to avoid the possibility of contaminating the Jovian moon Europa with bacteria from Earth. The Cassini probe also impacted Saturn at the end of its mission in 2017.
It is widely claimed that a common type of bacterium Streptococcus mitis accidentally contaminated the Surveyor's camera prior to launch and that the bacteria survived dormant in the harsh lunar environment for two and a half years supposedly then to be detected when Apollo 12 brought the Surveyor's camera back to the Earth This claim has been cited by some as providing credence to the idea of interplanetary panspermia but more importantly it led NASA to adopt strict abiotic procedures for space probes to prevent contamination of the planet Mars and other astronomical bodies that are suspected of having conditions possibly suitable for life Most dramatically the Galileo space probe was deliberately destroyed at the end of its mission by crashing it into Jupiter to avoid the possibility of contaminating the Jovian moon Europa with bacteria from Earth The Cassini probe also impacted Saturn at the end of its mission in 2017