2007
scientists put 3,000 tiny animals outside a spacecraft in the open vacuum of space
In 2007, scientists put 3,000 tiny animals outside a spacecraft in the open vacuum of space — no suit, no shelter — for ten days.
In September 2007, the ESA sent ~3,000 tardigrades into open space on the FOTON-M3 mission (TARDIS experiment) for ten days.
Jönsson KI et al. (2008), "Tardigrades survive exposure to space in low Earth orbit," *Current Biology* 18(17): R729–R731. (cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(08)00805-1, fetched 2026-07-27): "Tardigrades survive exposure to space in low Earth orbit," ESA article "Tiny animals survive exposure to space" (esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Research/Tiny_animals_survive_exposure_to_space, fetched 2026-07-27): "Tiny animals survive exposure to space"
TARDIGRADES
They were tardigrades
Tardigrades are found on every continent and in virtually every habitat.
PMC review on tardigrades in space research (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5705745/) Wikipedia "Tardigrade" citing multiple primary sources: " citing multiple primary sources — "
EVERY
shuts down almost every biological process
Tardigrades enter a cryptobiotic "tun" state when desiccated, dropping metabolism to near zero. Tardigrades are found on every continent and in virtually every habitat.
PMC review, "Tardigrades in Space Research: "Tardigrades in Space Research — Past and Future" PMC, "New insights into osmobiosis and chemobiosis in tardigrades" (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10620314/): "New insights into osmobiosis and chemobiosis in tardigrades" PMC review on tardigrades in space research (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5705745/)
RADIATION
Most of them survived the vacuum and cosmic radiation. When they got back
Most tardigrades survived the combination of space vacuum and cosmic radiation.
Jönsson et al. 2008 (*Current Biology*): "tardigrades can survive exposure to the space vacuum." EarthSky reporting on the Jönsson 2008 study (earthsky.org/space/water-bears-tardigrades-into-space-iss-experiment/, fetched 2026-07-27): "3,000 living tardigrades were ferried on a European mission to low Earth orbit and exposed to the hard vacuum of space for 10 days, with 68 percent of them surviving."
These animals are almost certainly alive right now
Tardigrades are found on every continent and in virtually every habitat.
PMC review on tardigrades in space research (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5705745/) Wikipedia "Tardigrade" citing multiple primary sources: " citing multiple primary sources — "
NEIGHBORHOOD
Find a patch of moss, look at it closely, and know you're staring at the neighborhood of the most resilient animals on the planet.
Find a patch of moss, look at it closely, and know you're staring at the neighborhood of the most resilient animals on the planet.
“UV radiation survival.”
Some tardigrades survived moderate UV-A doses; those exposed to UV-B or full-spectrum UV had very low or zero survival (10–15% and 0%, per Jönsson 2008). The script does NOT claim UV survival — only vacuum + cosmic radiation.
“Exact mechanism of radiation tolerance.”
Dsup protein and other DNA-protection mechanisms are under active research. The script claims only "survived" — no mechanism for radiation survival asserted.
“Duration discrepancy: 10 vs. 12 days.”
Jönsson 2008 (primary) uses ~10 days; the ESA article says 12 days (possibly counting transport/recovery phases). Script uses "ten days" following the peer-reviewed paper.
Publishing what we refused to claim is the strongest evidence the rest was checked.