Life in unprotected space
An interesting experiment has been running for the last eighteen months on the ISS (International Space Station). Three sample trays containing various forms of life (plants, bacteria, lichens, fungi, and so on), have been bolted to the outside of one of the space station’s labs. One tray is sealed, and in the shade, one is exposed to the full, unshielded fury of the Sun’s radiation, and one is both unshielded and open to the vacuum of space. Standing tall amongst it’s fellow passengers, a Lichen named Xanthoria elegans has survived all three conditions without ill effect. This provides proof that life (if not human life…) can survive the rigours of space travel, unprotected, and opens up all manner of possibilities regarding the origin of life on earth (the panspermia hypothesis), terraforming other planets, and more.