[FPSPACE] Can bugs survive in space?

[LARRY KLAES]

To quote:

Catching a free ride to Mars takes more than sticking out a thumb, but some 
hardy Earth bacteria could survive as hitchhikers clinging to the outside of 
spacecraft, studies have shown.

Now a set of experiments going up with space shuttle Atlantis to the 
International Space Station will test how exposure to the harshness of space 
might change bacteria during a simulated Mars mission.

...

The current shuttle experiment—a collaborative effort between the University 
of Florida, NASA, the European Space Agency and the German Aerospace Center 
(DLR) in Cologne—will take place for more than a year on an external space 
station platform called EXPOSE. That platform will be installed outside of 
ESA's Columbus laboratory module upon delivery by space shuttle Atlantis 
flight STS-122.

Full article here:

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/071211-st-space-microbes.html