Scientists warn that without good biosecurity measures, 'alien organisms' on Earth may become a reality stranger than fiction.

Published in international journal BioScience, a team of scientists, including Dr. Phill Cassey, Head of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Adelaide, are calling for greater recognition of the biosecurity risks ahead of the space industry.

"In addition to government-led space missions, the arrival of private companies such as SpaceX has meant there are now more players in space exploration than ever before," said Associate Professor Cassey. "We need to take action now to mitigate those risks."

Space biosecurity concerns itself with both the transfer of organisms from Earth to space (forward contamination) and vice-versa (backward contamination). While the research points out that at present the risk of alien organisms surviving the journey is low, it's not impossible.

Dr. Cassey said: "Risks that have low probability of occurrence, but have the potential for extreme consequences, are at the heart of biosecurity management. Because when things go wrong, they go really wrong."

The research provides clear evidence of how humans have spread organisms to the remotest regions of the earth and sea, and even into space.

The Hubble Space Telescope, a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency), has fundamentally changed the way we view our universe time and again. Now in its 32nd year in space, Hubble has delivered unprecedented insights about the cosmos, from the most distant galaxy observed so far to familiar planets in our neighborhood, including Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.

"Hubble, with its beautiful images and decades-long series of new discoveries about our universe, has captured the imagination of countless individuals and inspired so many," said Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate at the agency's Headquarters in Washington.

With Hubble continuing to make groundbreaking discoveries, the agency has awarded a sole source contract extension to the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) in Washington for continued Hubble science operations support at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, which AURA operates for NASA. The award extends Hubble's science mission through June 30, 2026, and increases the value of the existing contract by about $215 million (for a total of about $2.4 billion).