Name: This bacterium survived on the outside of the Space Station for an entire year
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This bacterium survived on the outside of the Space Station for an entire year

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Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. .A year in space is no walk in the park. Just ask&nbsp;, the American astronaut who spent a year on the International Space Station (ISS) in 2015.His long-term stay in space changed&nbsp;,&nbsp;he lost bone density, and he still had sore feet&nbsp;.But it's a whole other thing to survive in the naked space outside the protection of the ISS, where UV radiation, vacuum, huge temperature fluctuations, and microgravity are all imminent threats.So, it's quite a feat that a species of bacterium first found in a can of meat,&nbsp;,&nbsp;was still alive and kicking after a year spent living on a specially designed platform outside the pressurized module of the ISS.Researchers have been investigating these mighty microbes&nbsp;; back in 2015, an international team set up the&nbsp;&nbsp;on the outside of the Japanese Experimental Module Kibo, to put hardy bacterial species to the test.Now, D.&nbsp;radiodurans&nbsp;has passed with flying colors.The bacterial cells were dehydrated, shipped to the ISS, and placed&nbsp;, a platform continuously exposed to the space environment; in this case, the cells were behind a glass window that blocked out UV light at wavelengths lower than 190 nanometers."Results presented in this study may increase awareness regarding planetary protection concerns on, for instance, the Martian atmosphere which absorbs UV radiation below 190-200 nm," the team from Austria, Japan, and Germany&nbsp;"To mimic this condition, our experimental setup on the ISS included a&nbsp;&nbsp;glass window."This isn't the longest time&nbsp;D. radiodurans&nbsp;has been kept in these conditions –&nbsp;&nbsp;we wrote about a sample of the bacterium being left up there for three whole years.But the team weren't trying for a world record, instead they were trying to uncover what makes&nbsp;D. radiodurans&nbsp;just so good at surviving in these extreme conditions.So, after a year of radiation, freezing and boiling temperatures, and no gravity, the researchers got the spacefaring bacteria back down to Earth, rehydrated both a control that had spent the year on Earth and the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) sample, and compared their results.The survival rate was a lot lower for the LEO bacteria compared to the control version, but the bacteria that did survive seemed to be doing okay, even if they had turned a little different to their Earth-bound brethren.The team found that the LEO bacteria were covered with small bumps or&nbsp;&nbsp;on the surface, a number of repair mechanisms had been triggered, and some proteins and mRNAs had become more abundant.The team isn't exactly sure why the vesicles (which you can see in the picture above) formed, but they do have a couple of ideas."Intensified vesiculation after recovery from LEO exposure can serve as a quick stress response, which augments cell survival by withdrawing stress products,"&nbsp;"Additionally, outer membrane vesicles may contain proteins important for nutrient acquisition, DNA transfer, transport of toxins and quorum sensing molecules, eliciting the activation of resistance mechanisms after space exposure."This kind of study helps us understand whether bacteria could survive other worlds,&nbsp;, which will become more and more important as we humans and the germs we bring with us begin to travel farther than our Moon&nbsp;, and one day maybe even beyond."These investigations help us to understand the mechanisms and processes through which life can exist beyond Earth, expanding our knowledge on how to survive and adapt in the hostile environment of outer space,"&nbsp;"The results suggest that survival of&nbsp;D. radiodurans&nbsp;in LEO for a longer period is possible due to its efficient molecular response system and indicate that even longer, farther journeys are achievable for organisms with such capabilities."The research has been published in&nbsp;.This article was originally published by&nbsp;. Read the original article&nbsp;.Stay up to date on the latest science news by signing up for our Essentials newsletter.Thank you for signing up to Live Science. You will receive a verification email shortly.There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.MOST READMOST SHARED1234512345

Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. .A year in space is no walk in the park. Just ask&nbsp;, the American astronaut who spent a year on the International Space Station (ISS) in 2015.His long-term stay in space changed&nbsp;,&nbsp;he lost bone density, and he still had sore feet&nbsp;.But it's a whole other thing to survive in the naked space outside the protection of the ISS, where UV radiation, vacuum, huge temperature fluctuations, and microgravity are all imminent threats.So, it's quite a feat that a...

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Jacinta Bowler is a Journalist and Community Manager at ScienceAlert. They've reported for ScienceAlert since 2015, covering everything from the psychology of conspiracy theories to terrifying superbugs. They also founded the ScienceAlert fact-checking team in 2016, and they oversee the social media channels.

https://www.sciencealert.com/jacinta-bowler

Jacinta Bowler

Science news covering top stories of the day in health, environment, animals, technology and space. Part of @FuturePLC

This bacterium survived on the outside of the Space Station for an entire year

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