Bob McLean at Kennedy Space Center, picking up bacteria that flew on Space X21 in 2021. He also sent bacteria into space in 2023 and 2024 on later Space X flights.
ROTARY PROGRAM EXPLORES TXST RESEARCH THAT SENDS BACTERIA INTO SPACE
Dr. Bob McLean, recently retired professor of biology at Texas State, will present a program to the Rotary Club of San Marcos on June 17 titled, “Tiny Astronauts – Sending Bacteria to Space.” Rotary meets at noon at the VFW Hall, 1701 Hunter Road, and visitors are always welcome at meetings.
McLean says slimy layers of bacteria (biofilms) can grow readily on surfaces where they can cause fouling and damage to key life support systems in spacecraft. This presentation will show how joint efforts of microbiologists from Arizona State, Texas State, and NASA are testing methods to control fouling in the Water Recovery System on the Space Station.
“Tiny microorganisms can play a major role in the success (or failure) of extended spaceflight beyond Earth orbit to the moon and possibly Mars,” McLean said.
McLean is originally from Canada. He grew up in southern Ontario and after getting his undergraduate and graduate degrees in microbiology and began his academic career at Queen's University from 1988-93. He says he then got to Texas as quickly as possible and joined the biology faculty at Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State University) in 1993. He rose through the academic ranks and at retirement in August 2025, held the rank of Regents’ Professor. Over the years he supervised or co-supervised 46 graduate theses and helped many undergraduate students and several pre-college students. He and his students have over 100 publications and he has participated in five spaceflight experiments, three of which he was the principal investigator.
McLean and his wife, Martha, celebrated their 38th anniversary in May, and they have two sons, Malcolm (who lives in Colorado), and Alistair (who lives in Michigan).
Rotary is nonprofit, nonpolitical and nonreligious. The San Marcos club is 105 years old.
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