the experiment

In an experiment, tardigrades of Milnesium tardigradum and Richtersius coronifer species were sent to space, with matching control groups back on Earth.

The experiment was to test whether tardigrades would be able to survive in open space, without oxygen, without pressure, and with exposure to high amounts of cosmic radiation!

so, what happened?

Both species of tardigrade survived exposure to the space vacuum very well, with little difference in survival patterns compared to the control groups back on Earth.

However, adding solar radiation significantly decreased survival rates. In the groups exposed to a smaller range of UV radiation, a plurality of tardigrades came back to life from cryptobiosis, but subsequently died.

Tardigrade eggs were also exposed – ones exposed to only the space vacuum hatched as normal, but ones exposed to solar radiation did not hatch at all.