A real survivor of the extreme.
Space is a very hostile environment in which it would be, if one could go at leisure, extremely difficult to live there. For example, the lifespan of a human being without combination is, according to NASA, around 90 seconds. The reduced pressure and the lack of oxygen would cause rapid loss of consciousness, not to mention the effects of direct exposure to solar radiation and the freezing temperature of space. This is why astronauts are forced to wear a combination specially designed to recreate a pressurized atmosphere similar to that present on earth.
That said, a terrestrial animal is however completely capable of surviving in space, in its simplest device, without protection or special equipment. Proof of this is, they were sent there several times, especially on the Moon. In 2021, almost 5,000 joined the Space X crew to reach the International Space Station (ISS) in order to understand which genes allowed them to survive in extreme conditions. In fact according to scientists, these animals are able to return to “cryptobiosis”, an extremely slowed state of life in which an organism almost completely suspends its vital functions to survive ultra hostile conditions, such as intense cold, emptiness, lack of water or high radiation. They thus put themselves in an almost lethargic state, only need very, very few resources and can adapt to this new environment. Or even reproduce. As soon as the conditions become favorable, they wake up and resume their little life as if nothing had happened.
These “extreme survivors” are none other than the late, tiny animals (they are smaller than a millimeter) that look like 8 -legged cubs. They are very small animals without skeleton, neither hot blood, nor hairs, quite close to insects or arthropods (like spiders or crustaceans), even if they actually form a separate group. Their presence on the planet has been attested for almost 500 million years, which in fact has survived five major extinctions of living organizations, reports the CNRS.
Nearly 1,338 species of Tardigrades are known today, which can populate all the planet’s environments from the oceanic funds (-4,690 m deep) to the highest land peaks (+6,000 m altitude). Close to us, we can easily find late hidden in wet environments, mosses, lichens, on trees or stones.
