Cthulhu Goes to ISS

looorg writes:

NASA is launching 100 baby squids - and thousands of other organisms - into space for testing. Lets just hope it doesn't end like the classic NROL-39 badge.[*]

SpaceX's 22nd Commercial Resupply Mission to Space Station Launches Water Bears, Squid, Solar Panels:

Water bears take on space

Tardigrades, known as water bears due to their appearance under a microscope and common habitat in water, are tiny creatures that tolerate environments more extreme than most life forms can. That makes them a model organism for studying biological survival under extreme conditions on Earth and in space. In addition, researchers have sequenced the genome of the tardigrade Hypsibius exemplaris and developed methods for measuring how different environmental conditions affect tardigrade gene expression. Cell Science-04 characterizes the molecular biology of short-term and multigenerational survival of water bears, identifying the genes involved in adaptation and survival in high stress environments.

The results could advance understanding of the stress factors affecting humans in space and support development of countermeasures. Spaceflight can be a really challenging environment for organisms, including humans, who have evolved to the conditions on Earth," says principal investigator Thomas Boothby. One of the things we are really keen to do is understand how tardigrades are surviving and reproducing in these environments and whether we can learn anything about the tricks that they are using and adapt them to safeguard astronauts."

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