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SENDING WATER BEARS INTO SPACE by Astarion - Coggle Diagram
SENDING WATER BEARS INTO SPACE by Astarion
WATER BEARS
(
Tardigrades
)
Why do we send them?
1.
They are small, so we can send a lot of them
2.
They can survive radiations
3.
Can revive after hibernation
What are they?
Simple organisms
They live in water
They are extremely tolerant
They look like eight-legged bears
How will the contact with Earth be made?
The contact will be made with sensors
In what condition will they be sent?
They will be sent in their dehydrate, cryptobiotic form
Would they return to Earth?
They won't return
When could they be sent?
They could be sent in 20 years, but that doesn't mean they'll be onboard a 2040 flight
How are we sending them to space?
We can send them with laser sail propulsion, but it would be hard to scale it up
Can this help inform us about what would happen to humans in the same situation?
It can help us because it would be testing how life responds to radiation environments
Can they contaminate other ecosystems?
No, they won't survive the impact onto a planet
Why can't we just send robots?
We can't send robots because we want to see what would happen to other organisms in to spaces
Previous attempts
In 2019, Israel's Beresheet Lunar Lander was the frst non-governmental craft to attempt a landing on he moon
It carried a collection of items:
human Dna samples
an Israeli flag
a digital copy of Wikipedia
thousands of tardigrades
