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Halite (NaCl mineral) has exhibited the potential to preserve microorganismsfor millions of years on Earth. This mineral was also identified on Mars and inmeteorites. In this study, we investigated the potential of halite crystals toprotect microbial life forms on the surface of an airless body (e.g.,meteorite), for instance, during a lithopanspermia process (interplanetarytravel step) in the early Solar System. To investigate the effect of theradiation of the young Sun on microorganisms, we performed extensive simulationexperiments by employing a synchrotron facility. We focused on two exposureconditions: vacuum (low Earth orbit, 10^{-4}Pa) and vacuum-ultraviolet (VUV)radiation (range 57.6 - 124 nm, flux 7.14 W m^{-2}), with the latterrepresenting an extreme scenario with high VUV fluxes comparable to the amountof radiation of a stellar superflare from the young Sun. The stellar VUVparameters were estimated by using the very well-studied solar analog of theyoung Sun, k^{1}Cet. To evaluate the protective effects of halite, we entrappeda halophilic archaeon (Haloferax volcanii) and a non-halophilic bacterium(Deinococcus radiodurans) in laboratory-grown halite. Control groups were cellsentrapped in salt crystals (mixtures of different salts and NaCl) andnon-trapped (naked) cells, respectively. All groups were exposed either tovacuum alone or to vacuum plus VUV. Our results demonstrate that halite canserve as protection against vacuum and VUV radiation, regardless of the type ofmicroorganism. In addition, we found that the protection is higher thanprovided by crystals obtained from mixtures of salts. This extends theprotective effects of halite documented in previous studies and reinforces thepossibility to consider the crystals of this mineral as potential preservationstructures in airless bodies or as vehicles for the interplanetary transfer ofmicroorganisms.

Protective Effects of Halite to Vacuum and Vacuum-Ultraviolet Radiation: A Potential Scenario During a Young Sun Superflare