Space Water Bears: 68% of Tardigrades Revived After 10 Days in Orbit
In 2007, ESA’s Biopan-6 exposed about 3,000 tardigrades to vacuum and solar ultraviolet radiation in low Earth orbit for 10 days. Upon rehydration, 68% of Milnesium tardigradum revived within about 30 minutes in the UV-exposed group, while vacuum alone left survival unaffected and exposure to the full solar spectrum yielded only three survivors. The findings underscore tardigrades' extreme resilience and have spurred research into the Dsup protein's potential to shield human cells from radiation, with implications for cancer radiotherapy and long-duration spaceflight.
