Streptococcus mitis

It has been reported that Streptococcus mitis identified and survived for over two years on the Surveyor 3 probe on the Moon. However, many NASA scientists speculate that this is most probably due to contamination upon return to Earth. The Apollo 12 crew received pieces of Surveyor in 1969, one of these was the TV camera. The probe was then analyzed to consider how the lunar environment affected the material. Surveyor 3 had not been sterilized before its launch because scientists wanted to see if organisms could survive the two and half years on the moon, so looking for surviving organic material was a part of this analysis. [5]

Upon inspection, a group found an amount of S. mitis inside a piece of foam located inside the camera. Culture plates were made and the identity was later confirmed as Streptococcus mitis at the US Communicable Disease Center at Atlanta, Georgia. At first, it was speculated that S. mitis had been picked up from the moon but research later discovered that the residence of the bacteria on the probe had started after the probe returned.