lunar life conditions effects on dead boddies and skeletons

[nadahazem]

I wanted to ask what would happen if I left a dead body in the moon I thought may be because there is no anaerobic bacteria It won't decay anyway i wanted to know the lunar conditions ' effects on a dead body espcially skeleton"

[donnahardy2]

Hi,

This is an excellent science question, and I will give you some clues so you can discover the answer to your question. Here is some information that should help:

1. Both anaerobic and aerobic bacteria will be present on a dead body and would be able to grow if environmental conditions are suitable.
2. I recommend doing an internet search and look for answers to the following questions:
a. What are the environmental requirements of growth for bacteria?
b. What are the environmental conditions on the moon?

Let me know what you find out. Do you think a body would decay on the moon? If, not what do you think would happen to the soft tissue of the body?

Bones are composed of primarily of inorganic calcium phosphate and cannot be degraded by microbial activity. This is the reason that paleontologists are able to do their studies thousands of years after their subjects have died. The bones remain intact through the centuries. So now, do an internet search on the stability of calcium phosphate, and then based on your knowledge of environmental conditions of the moon, what do you think will happen to the skeleton?

Your question is really excellent, and could make the basis of a really unique science fair project. What are you planning to do for your experiment?

Donna Hardy

[nadahazem]

Hey ,

Thank you for the great help . Actuallay this idea was the answer of the Moontbots ( A Google lunar X prize challenge ) and the question was : when you go to the moon what would you leave there and why ? But now my team and I are thinking to turn it into a science fair project . BUT it's hard to simulate the lunar life conditions here on earth . Any help ??

Thank You
Nada Hazem

[donnahardy2]

Hi Nada,

Here are some ideas.

To simulate a moon experiment, you will need to reproduce very hot and very cold conditions. When the sun is out the temperature on the surface of the moon is about 107 degrees Centigrade, which is a little hotter than boiling water. When the sun is not shining, the temperature is about minus 150 degrees Centigrade, and this will be hard to reproduce on earth. The coldest laboratory freezer is minus 80 degrees, so perhaps if you have access to a laboratory freezer, you could do an experiment that would be close.

The relative humidity on the moon is zero so you would have to make conditions as dry as possible. How would you recreate a completely dry atmosphere?

The moon has a thinner atmosphere compared to earth and this could be simulated in a vacuum chamber. Why don’t you do an internet search for vacuum chambers and freeze dryers to look for something suitable to use?

Do you have any ideas how you could provide a hot, sunny, dry environment, and a cold, dark, dry environment. If you can work out the details, you could do your experiment.

The moon rotates on its axis every 28 days. It would be ideal if you could do a 28 day experiment and have one sample start in the hot environment and one sample start in the cold. After 14 days, the samples you would switch the conditions and continue for another 14 days.

You need to have a suitable sample to use. A dead chicken purchased from the grocery store might work well and, I don’t believe would not require approval from the scientific review committee. However, using something smaller like chicken legs or thighs might work also. You want to use something that would comply with all science fair rules that has soft flesh and bones to simulate a dead body.

And since this is a science project, you need to measure something and include a control. You would, of course, include visual observations with photographs; you could weigh the samples every day (or every third day); you could do bacterial cultures. Can you think of anything else that you could measure?

And, now for the most challenging question. What are you going to use for a control? If the moon conditions are your experimental conditions (independent variable), then you need to include a control. Do you have any ideas?

Donna Hardy