It has been suggested that Tardigrades on the Moon be merged into this article. (Discuss) Proposed since January 2025. |
The use of tardigrades in space, first proposed in 1964 because of their extreme tolerance to radiation, began in 2007 with the FOTON-M3 mission in low Earth orbit, where they were exposed to space's vacuum for 10 days, and reanimated, just by rehydration, back on Earth. In 2011, tardigrades were on board the International Space Station on STS-134. In 2019, a capsule containing tardigrades was on board the Israeli lunar lander Beresheet which crashed on the Moon.