Patches of the green and black fungus have been discovered behind control panels, in the ship’s air conditioner, communications unit, and on many other surfaces. Not only was the fungus growing everywhere, the patches proved difficult to eradicate.
“(Spacecraft) are closed systems, and there is very little room for error,” said Ralph Mitchell, a professor of applied biology at Harvard who has been working with NASA to address the threat. “Within days, all of the astronauts share all of the same microflora … like children in kindergarten.”
Mitchell’s experiments for NASA involved observing the behavior of fungus placed on plastic and metal surfaces. The plastics bubbled, released fumes, and broke apart. Fungi ate through the metal, creating microscopic fissures and pits that weakened the surface.
This same fungus was found in a boy who was bitten by a bat in the canary islands. Doctors first thought it was a new strain of rabies, contacted WHO, and after the boy died within 72 hours of being bitten an autopsy was completed, the fungi had eaten his organs out from the inside as he was alive causing multiple organ failure. His skin sagged all over his body as the fungus ate the insides out from him.
Authorities culled this group of bats, the only other place this fungus has been found is on the Russian Mir space station!" PermaResearchInstitute
