European scientists have discovered an animal that can survive in the vacuum of space, the tardigrade, also known as the tardigrade. Not just space, some of them can survive both vacuum and solar radiation conditions, the only animal ever discovered that can survive double harsh conditions. In September 2007, Swedish ecologist Ingemar Jungson and colleagues exposed two different species of mosses and their eggs to space for 10 days. In the end, it was found that they lived well in the space environment, not much different from on the ground. They can repair radiation damage or directly resist solar radiation.
There's not much difference between living well in space and not being on the ground, said Pietra Reitberg, a researcher at the Cologne-Polzi Center for Space Medicine in Germany and one of the astrobiologists who participated in the study, "We found that both tardigrades live well in space and are not much different from those on the ground." However, after suffering from the double test of space environment and solar radiation, the survival rate of the sample is very low. "In fact, when finally released back into the water, only 10 percent of the tardigrades exposed to the double test of space environment and solar radiation survived, and none of the larvae hatched." But, Rong Song said, "Despite this, this is also the first animal that humans have found so far to have samples alive under double exposure." Reitberg speculates that it may be the outer layer of tardigrades, the cortex, that could help them resist solar radiation.
The researchers say that like the microbial bacteria radiation-resistant Chicoccus, tardigrades certainly have a cellular mechanism that can repair radiation damage or directly resist solar radiation. Rong Song said, "When exposed to solar radiation, there is no data showing that the body of the tartard is changing. So, we don't know how much solar radiation hurts them, and how they fix it. "Experiments have shown that at least some animals can survive without barriers in the harsh space environment. This list of "super-strong" animals also includes rotifers, nematodes (roundworms), insect larvae that resist drying, and crustaceans such as brine shrimp. Scientists have found that all of these "super animals" are as resistant to drying as tardigrades. Some of the lichen plants on which tardigrades depend can also survive in space. Rong Song said, "If these tardigrade samples are protected from solar radiation, they can survive in space for several years." The problem, however, is that the spacecraft produces huge jets as it moves in and out of the atmosphere, and these samples are also affected. "The burning sensation produced by a spacecraft moving in and out of the space atmosphere is roughly equivalent to the friction caused by a rock entering and exiting the planet's atmosphere.
Interstellar travel can take millions of years, and humans don't have the ability to conduct experiments for such a long time. However, at least some tardigrades survived intact during the first 10 days of interstellar travel. The real problem with testing the viability of tardigrades is finding a suitable environment. Rong Song said, "As long as you find an environment that is milder than space, tardigrades may reproduce and survive." "