Earth’s nearest neighbour – the Moon – has been considered a barren land devoid of all life, but a new study suggests that might not be the case. In a new study which is yet to be peer reviewed, scientists suggest that the permanently shadowed regions (PSR) which have extremely cold temperatures are places we should be looking for.

The permanently shadowed regions are places that never receive sunlight because unlike Earth, the Moon’s axis is perpendicular to the Sun.

According to NASA, there are some regions that haven’t received sunlight for over two billion years. These regions have been areas of interest for NASA as the water ice likely hidden in these regions could be used to produce drinking water, oxygen and water fuel.

Do PSRs have life?

John Moores, associate professor at UK’s York University and the lead author of the study, says that because these PSRs are so cold, they may provide a safe harbour for bacteria. The experts explained that species like Bacillus subtilis, which are typically present on a spacecraft and are known to improve gut health, could be dwelling in the

PSRs as they may have been protected from heat and ultraviolet radiation.

Notably, these microbes are not something born through an Earth-like process on the Moon but those that were carried by astronauts and landers. The scientists considered the number of spacecraft crashes near the PSRs which may have dispersed the microbes.

“The question then is to what extent does this contamination matter? This will depend on the scientific work being done within the PSR,” Moores told Universe Today, per Daily Mail. He said that the scientific work will include taking ice samples from the PSRs and investigate the organic molecules.

Moores also noted in his study that the microbes may be existing in the shadowed regions in a dormant state and are unable to metabolise, reproduce or grow. One of the objectives of the PSR study, he said, was to “understand their ability to preserve terrestrial microbial contamination.”

Interestingly, NASA has identified 13 PSRs in the lunar south pole where astronauts might land for the Artemis 3 mission by mid-2027. The agency aims to establish a permanent lunar base there by using in-situ resource utilisation techniques for putting the water ice to use.