Ten types of organisms including eukaryotic and prokaryotic bacteria will be flown in triplicate in a self-contained, 100 grams cylinder carried on the Russian fobos-grunt return probe that will be sent to examine Phobos, a moon of mars, later this year. Extremophiles were given preference for this mission, due to their abilities to withstand extremes in temperature and salt conditions, a full list of organisms listed here.
Why we are excited????
Microbes take a three-year journey into space! This experiment, if successful, could be proof of the concept of various organisms being able to exist in the vacuum and temperature of space.
