The Only Animal That Can Survive in Space.

Tardigrades

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New research indicates that tardigrades, the only creatures capable of enduring the dark, irradiated outer space vacuum, can possess an unforeseen weakness.

In April 2019, Beresheet, a moon-bound Israeli spacecraft, crashed due to a code error. Researchers, along with human DNA samples, placed  tardigrades on the Beresheet; when the lunar lander exploded, thousands of dehydrated late grades may have spilled onto the surface of the moon, according to WIRED.

Tardigrades were in "tun" form, a dormant state where they shriveled into a ball, expelled most of the water in their bodies, and lowered their metabolism through cryptobiosis until they entered an environment better suited to sustain life. That way they can exist for decades. They're still pretty versatile and can deal with the harshest conditions, including subzero temperatures.

Scientists discovered in 2007 that these microscopic criteria could survive an extended stay in the outer space's cold, irradiated vacuum. A European research team sent a group of living tardigrades on the outside of a FOTON-M3 rocket to orbit the earth for 10 days. The scientists discovered, when the water bears returned to Earth, that 68 per cent lived through the ordeal.

Land-dwelling tardigrades can be found at some of earth's driest locations. "I've collected living tardigrades from under a rock in the desert of Sinai, in a part of the desert that had had no record of rain in the previous 25 years," states Miller. Furthermore, these are technically aquatic creatures, requiring a thin layer of water to do almost anything, including eating or moving.

How Does the Tun State Protect Tardigrades?

In its desiccated state, the tardigrade is ridiculously, almost absurdly resilient. Laboratory tests have shown that tardigrades can endure both an utter vacuum and intense pressures more than five times as punishing as those in the deepest ocean. Even temperatures up to 300 degrees Fahrenheit and as low as -458 degrees F (just above absolute zero) won't spell the creature's doom.

source : article BY WILLIAM HERKEWITZ AND DAISY HERNANDEZ

 JAN 14, 2020
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