BACTERIA discovered on the surface of the International Space Station may not be from Earth, a Russian cosmonaut claims.

Anton Shkaplerov, an ISS expedition flight engineer who will take his third trip to the space station in December, said that living bacteria harvested from the metal skin may be extraterrestrial.

2 The mystery bacteria was harvested from the surface of the ISS Credit: Handout - Getty

Microorganisms from Earth have been found on the station's skin before but they have got there thanks to the ionosphere lift phenomenon, where substances from Earth rise into the atmosphere.

Shkaplerov said: "Bacteria that had not been there during the launch of the ISS module were found on the swabs.

"So they have flew from somewhere in space and settled on the outside hull."

He added that the samples are being probed by scientists and seem to be safe.

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2 The bacteria may not be from Earth. File picture Credit: Getty - Contributor

Incredibly, bacteria found on the ISS can survive in a vacuum and temperatures ranging from -150C to 150C.

Last month Sky reported that bacterial cells treated with a common antibiotic were spotted changing shape to survive while aboard the ISS.

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The defence mechanism could pose a serious problem when it comes to treating astronauts with infections.

The "clever shape-shifting" is believed to help the bacteria survive.

Dr Luis Zea, the study's lead author, said: "We knew bacteria behave differently in space and that it takes higher concentrations of antibiotics to kill them."

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