“…Over the last decade, a number of studies have reported on the microorganisms that are detectable in spacecraft assembly facilities during prelaunch preparations despite the precautions that were taken to reduce the microbial load (La Duc et al, 2004, 2007bKempf et al, 2005;Benardini et al, 2014). Previous studies testing survival of Earth microorganisms in simulated martian conditions have focused on spore-forming microorganisms, particularly bacteria of the Bacillus genus, since spores are hardy forms of terrestrial life that can survive Mars-like conditions (Horneck, 1993;Nicholson et al, 2000;Riesenman and Nicholson, 2000;Schuerger et al, 2003;Link et al, 2004;Newcombe et al, 2005;Tauscher et al, 2006;Zenoff et al, 2006;Fajardo-Cavazos et al, 2010).…”