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In 1969, NASA accidentally contaminated the Moon with Earth bacteria when Apollo 12 astronauts retrieved parts from an unmanned probe that had crashed there.
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Science Gone WrongSep 04, 2026

In 1969, NASA accidentally contaminated the Moon with Earth bacteria when Apollo 12 astronauts retrieved parts from an unmanned probe that had crashed there.

NASA accidentally infected the Moon with Earth germs. Apollo 12 found pieces of Surveyor 3 probe. It had crashed two years earlier. Scientists discovered living Earth bacteria inside the wreckage. The microbes survived Moon's vacuum and radiation. We technically terraformed another planet by accident.

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