Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments

Working With Tardigrades On The International Space Station

By Keith Cowing
Press Release
ESA
September 21, 2021
Filed under , ,
Working With Tardigrades On The International Space Station
Working With Tardigrades On The International Space Station
ESA

Thomas Pesquet: It’s time for lunch, water bears! I took my turn feeding the tardigrades. Fun fact: they have a two-week reproduction cycle, so we are now hosting three generations of them! A whole family tree of space-borne tardigrades!

C’est l’heure de nourrir les oursons d’eau ! On nourrit nos tardigrades chacun notre tour. Ils ont un cycle de reproduction très rapide (à peine 2 semaines !) donc on en héberge déjà plusieurs générations. Un arbre généalogique entier de tardigrades de l’espace !

Credits: ESA/NASA-T. Pesquet larger image

Astrobiology

Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA Space Station Payload manager/space biologist, Away Teams, Journalist, Lapsed climber, Synaesthete, Na’Vi-Jedi-Freman-Buddhist-mix, ASL, Devon Island and Everest Base Camp veteran, (he/him) 🖖🏻