The germ: Salmonella, best known as a culprit in food poisoning.
The trip: Space shuttle mission STS-115, September 2006.
The reason: Scientists wanted to see how space travel affects germs, so they took some along -- carefully wrapped -- for the ride.
The result: Mice that were fed the space germs were three times more likely to get sick, and died more quickly, than mice fed identical germs that had remained behind on Earth.
"Wherever humans go, microbes go -- you can't sterilize humans. Wherever we go, under the oceans or orbiting the earth, the microbes go with us, and it's important that we understand ... how they're going to change," explained Cheryl Nickerson, an associate professor at the Center for Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology at Arizona State University.
Germs sent to space come back meaner, scientist reports
http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/space/09/2 ... index.html
Use of undefined constants causes assumptions!
