Panspermia/A Critique of Survival of lichens and bacteria exposed to outer space conditions – Results of the Lithopanspermia experiments.

(Review Paper) Cited in

Lichens Die After Re-Entry
After attaching the bacteria and lichens to the space shuttle, their growth rate, ability to germinate and their activity was analyzed. The bacteria had died and the lichens had survived in space. However, when the lichens attempted to re-enter the earth's atmosphere, they died as well

Methods
They attached the bacteria and lichen to the space shuttle and protected them only by a thin glass layer (it was otherwise fully open to space). The lichen and bacteria were exposed to space for 10 days. They then analysed the lichen’s and bacteria’s ability to germinate, their growth rate and their activity after 10 days in space.

Results
When the lichens were exposed to outer space their cortex made them resistant to space. In contrast, the bacteria died right away. When the lichens re-entered the earth’s atmosphere they did not survive. This does not support the idea that bacteria originates from space.