Shubhanshu Shukla will take water beer to space: Know the specialty

This water beer is called Tardigrade in English. This small organism lives in water. It has 8 legs. If it is enlarged, it looks like a bear. You will be surprised to know that 20 million years ago, due to the meteor body, the biggest creature of the earth’s history came to an end but water beer survived. The existence of this creature has continued continuously on earth for 60 million years. Even the earth came 5 times on the earth, in which almost all the organisms of the earth came to an end, but the wire beer was also saved from these great disastris. It is very small. It has eight legs and at the end of each leg has claws like structures. Their mouths are made in such a way that they can easily eat plants’ cells, algae and micro -organisms. Tardigrade can survive in extremely difficult conditions from deep sea trenches to peaks of mountains. They are often found in a thin layer of frozen moisture on moss and lichen. For this reason, they are also called moss piglets.

How the organism is alive in adversity
Tardigrade was discovered in 1773 by German biologist Johan August EFRM Goez but in recent decades, scientists have increased interest in these organisms. Their stamina is amazing. It can live in temperatures from minus -272.95 ° C to 150 ° C. It can survive the pressure from radiation to the condition of space vacuum. It can survive even after being frozen for 30 years. The reason for the amazing life protection capacity of the tardigrade is a biological process called cryptobiosis. This process occurs when environmental crisis comes and in response to the metabolic process of the body is almost completely closed. A major form of this process is anhydrobiosis. In this, they lose more than 95 percent water of their body and go into a dry, shrunk state which is called ton. Tardigrade makes special types of protein in ton-stage, such as cytoplasmic-abdent heat soluble (CAHS) protein. These protein make gel -like structures within cells to protect DNA and other cellular components. This process turns them into glass -like condition, which makes them safe.

Tardigrade has also been sent to space before. In 2007, about 3,000 water beer was sent to space on the photon-M3 mission of the European Space Agency. These organisms were placed in a small capsule whose lid opened directly in contact with the space. After returning to Earth, when it came in contact with water, many of them survived. Some also successfully breed. Although ultraviolet radiation reduced their survival rate slightly, the use proved that only the vacuum status of space was not fatal to them. This historical test makes Tardigrade the first known creature that survived in direct contact in space without any vehicle or suit.