How to get a pathogen into space stations?

[Bowler1]

I have a problem that I could use help with.

I want to get a pathogen into space stations, or more accurately, into hollowed out astroids. This means there will be lots of rock in the way and if you're living in space then quarantine protocols will be in place or even the common cold might cause problems. So how do I get a pathogen across the vacuum of space, through airlocks and no doubt past other security/safety barriers and infect the poor souls living within the astroids?

Once in, no space station will ever be 100% secure, especially with a large population so I can infect them all in no time. But that first leap has me struggling, how do people living in space pick up outside infections and especially naughty ones. Quarantine, by definition, is hard to get around and more so the barrier of vacuum.

All ideas welcome, with any setup change welcome as well.

 

[Cthulhu.Science]

Kurt Vonnegut suggested that the entire purpose of life on Earth was to develop a virus that could travel through space. --- I wish I could remember the novel, but there it is.

There is no reason to believe that there are not pathogens that could travel through space. On earth viruses and mold spores are very, very resilient as they lay dormant waiting for the correct environment grow again.

Perhaps your pathogen is simply waiting for an atmosphere. Perhaps oxygen at any level will allow it to grow. That way it would grow in the atmosphere of the space station or within the lungs and blood stream of a person.

How that pathogen got inside that asteroid so many millions of years ago -- who's to say?

 

[msstice]

You need an inside man. Smuggles it in with some personal effects. You do need a miniature capsule to keep the virus stable.

PS. Also the kind of browser history that puts you on various lists.

 

[Bowler1]

Spores - it is a mycelium that I had in mind. Maybe it's easier than I had in mind.

An inside man would do for one settlement, but not for more than one, or not easily. Sort of why I'm looking for another method to get into settlements.

 

[paranoid marvin]

WELL, what you do is you get a pitchfork, and...

Alternatively, create a situation. Decontamination rules are there for a reason, and they shouldn't be bypassed. However humans are human; an incident occurs; space craft collision, solar storm etc. People will die if the airlock isn't opened immediately to let them in. Perhaps someone inside takes the chance, perhaps one of those at risk bypasses the security system and gets in.

Something like this happened in Alien.

 

[Wayne Mack]

I would suspect that any space station would not be a self-sustaining environment; it would need periodic shipments of food, water, and air. There is also the possibility of personnel transfers. Any of these could be infected.

 

[AllanR]

I suspect preventing pathogens from getting into a space station is a much more difficult task.

 

[Swank]

An emergency oxygen tank that was filled on earth by a sketchy manufacturer, then is used in a minor accident.

A plant sample for a microgravity grown experiment.

Radiation caused rapid mutation to existing acceptable microflora.

Impact of an old satellite either breeching the hull or brought in after EVA investigation.

 

[Yozh]

Depends on what the pathogen is? The station may have put in place rigorous screening for know earth pathogens, but could there be extraterrestrial agents that are not recognizable and not affected by usual sterilization processes?

 

[Bowler1]

Well spores for an alien mycelium to infect humans, so not from earth. Not knowing what you're looking for is a very valid point and stating the obvious - well pointed out. I suspect I may have been over thinking my problems.

 

[Swank]

Well spores for an alien mycelium to infect humans, so not from earth. Not knowing what you're looking for is a very valid point and stating the obvious - well pointed out. I suspect I may have been over thinking my problems.

If it is alien, why does it have to get in? Couldn't it always have been in the asteroid?

 

[THX1138]

So, a fungus among us then... Coming from a medical Equipment manufacturing background, as a former production supervisor (Pre financial) We can fun with this! The ricin assassination of Georgi Markov comes to mind...

To put both together, micro asteroids drilled and filled with the spores, (Thousands to mills) are sent towards the target space walker/ship at close range, penetrating the space suits outer layers ( non critical ) and embedding into the notch and crannies of the mechanical locks of the helmets and wrists and parts.

UV-C and Gamma rays are just two sterilizations we made our equipment to withstand, though Gama always messed our optics up! So, for the sake of the story, UV-C or Gama ray would most likely be used. Chemical would not be very efficient at all...

Givin the properties of the UV-C/Gama resistant materials of the items in your story, it would only take a few space walks... given the right humidity or humidity source... invasion...

 

[Elentarri]

I suspect preventing pathogens from getting into a space station is a much more difficult task.

This. If you want a pathogen on a space station, it's already on whoever is travelling to the space station*. No fancy technology is going to detect all the bugs for the simple reason that no one knows what all the bacteria, viruses, fungi and their rapidly evolving variants are, which are pathogenic and which are just part of the natural human biome - and you have to know that to programme your bug-detecting method to detect it. All you require is a generic, harmless, lives-on-everyone microbe to get zapped by radiation/ineffective antibiotics etc or run into weakened immune systems or even merge with another harmless microbe to combine into a microbe that is resistant to whatever current medication is available and spread like wildfire. Bacteria slurp up (via osmosis) random bits of DNA as the travel, and incorporate it into their DNA, so they pick up all sorts of useful attributes.

There was a non-fiction book I read years back - Superbug: The Fatal Menace of MRSA by Maryn McKenna - that might give you some idea of how harmless pathogens can become harmful.
For viruses hopping between species, I would recommend Spillover by David Quammen.
I Contain Multitudes by Ed Yong is also a good source for microbe information.

*This is assuming viruses, spores, bacteria etc aren't already floating around in space or sitting on your asteroid waiting for someone to show up.

 

[Bowler1]

Great posts, and some effort on research ahead for me. I need to get a feel for how easy moving a pathogen will be, but also a basic understanding of how spores/bacteria and even viruses withstand harsh environments. More for me and realism in the future writing, so readers stay with me.

I'll need a life cycle too. How does a mycelium that infects humans get to the spore stage ideally without killing the host. As we all do poos, which might be how life would leave a live host (tapeworms or similar to this with cows), it's not all that great for a book. Vampire movies and biting is great for drama, but problematic in real life. Alien the movie had a great life cycle, but destructive and not very subtle for a book, or so I think. Anyway, can I ask for spore lifecycles too please?

 

[Elentarri]

Mycelium is fungus related. Fungi is generally not considered a fast acting or particularly dangerous pathogen for humans (unless you breath them in or eat the wrong ones)... unless you are going for some sort of cordyceps (aka zombie fungus) mutation, which in my opinion is already overdone.
Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake will help you with the fungal research.

Your other option is some sort of parasite instead of a fungus, virus or bacteria. Some parasites can be microbes (e.g. Toxoplasma gondii, which alters behaviour and is unnoticeable unless you go looking for it).
Parasite Rex by Carl Zimmer is an interesting book on a variety of strange parasites, if you are looking for ideas and life-cycles. There are several parasites that go through various animals and stages.

 

[Bowler1]

I have something more symbiotic in mind, as mycelium works with other plants so why not more evolved life. But it can't be all plain sailing or there'd be no drama. I will read up on lifecycles and see if something takes my fancy.

The help I'm getting is greatly appreciated, it's more than I could have hoped for.

 

[Elentarri]

Lichen is symbiotic fungi/yeast and bacteria. Sometimes 3 species in one. Lichen-humans would be interesting...

 

[chornedsnorkack]

I have a problem that I could use help with.

I want to get a pathogen into space stations, or more accurately, into hollowed out astroids. This means there will be lots of rock in the way and if you're living in space then quarantine protocols will be in place or even the common cold might cause problems. So how do I get a pathogen across the vacuum of space, through airlocks and no doubt past other security/safety barriers and infect the poor souls living within the astroids?

Once in, no space station will ever be 100% secure, especially with a large population so I can infect them all in no time. But that first leap has me struggling, how do people living in space pick up outside infections and especially naughty ones. Quarantine, by definition, is hard to get around

No, it isn´t. Think of how coronavirus got into isolated islands and Antarctic bases January 2020...2022. Quarantine gets most pathogens but not all. Some individuals have a longer than average latent period, or are infectious while asymptomatic, etc.

 

[Bowler1]

Lichen is symbiotic fungi/yeast and bacteria. Sometimes 3 species in one. Lichen-humans would be interesting...

I think so too, I just have to decide how people might look and other affects. Some study required to decide on these things and I'll get going. The itch to write is building. Few will ever read the results, but such is life. It will keep me happy tinkering away.

 

[Elentarri]

I forgot to mention that there are also prions and diseases caused by prions (mis-folded proteins). Some of them have odd effects like Fatal Familial Insomnia. There was a mention of "zombie deer" on a news site this morning.

Prion Diseases | CDC

The only book on the subject I've read is Deadly Feasts by Richard Rhodes. It was interesting.