NASA asked two astronauts to go outside the ISS to check if there were living organisms there

• We know of many microorganisms that can survive the extreme conditions of space.

• Tracy Dyson and Matt Dominic will collect samples from outside the International Space Station for analysis on Earth.

NASA astronauts Tracy Dyson and Matt Dominick have a special mission. On their next spacewalk, scheduled for June 24, they will go into space to collect living creatures attached to the outside of the International Space Station.

Life in space? Outside the ISS, temperatures fluctuate between a scorching 120 degrees Celsius and a chilly -100 degrees Celsius. And without protection from the Earth’s atmosphere, radiation levels reach extremes.

While this may sound like science fiction, the reality is that we have documented many microorganisms that can survive these extreme conditions. They are known as extremophiles and can be maintained in a dormant state to restore metabolic activity when environmental conditions become more favorable.

The fascinating world of extremophiles. One of the most famous examples of extremophiles are tardigrades, which have been the subject of numerous experiments and have demonstrated incredible resilience to space.

These tiny eight-legged invertebrates could even live on the Moon. In 2019, the Israeli Beresheet probe crashed on the surface of the Moon. I was carrying dehydrated tardigrades with me as part of a “library” project. And while we don’t know if they survived the impact, they may still be in a state of cryptobiosis, a form of dormancy in which they can live without water and in extreme conditions.

In addition to tardigrades, we know of bacteria and other even smaller microorganisms that are even more resilient and can withstand these harsh conditions for years.

Experiments outside the ISS. Over the years, astronauts have installed spore-forming bacteria and fungi on the outside of the space station, demonstrating that they can survive up to two years in low-Earth orbit.

A study published in January detailed how some species of bacteria and fungi deposited on cotton and attached to metal rods outside the ISS were still alive after two years in the vacuum of space.

“The main factors for long-term survival may be their dehydration and drying out by partial freezing in the vacuum of near-Earth space,” explained the study authors. And this is not an isolated case: the discovery by a team of Japanese researchers in. 2020 that bacteria Deinococcus radiodurans can live three years in space.

Space walk. The spacewalk was scheduled for this Thursday, but some discomfort on the part of one of the astronauts in the spacesuit forced it to be postponed to June 24, after the return of the Boeing Starliner.

Dyson and Dominic will collect samples from outside the International Space Station to analyze them on Earth to see if living organisms still exist. This experiment could help solve one of the greatest mysteries of the universe: is there life beyond Earth?

Image | POT

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