Lichen love space Scientist have found the most complex organism
to date that can survive direct exposure to space: lichen. The
European Space Agency (ESA), which sponsored the research, says
the findings bolster the possibility that life was transferred
between planets. Researchers from Spain flew samples of lichen,
which are made of algal cells in a mat of fungus, on the outside
of a Russian capsule that spent two weeks in orbit. The
organisms survived the high levels of ultraviolet radiation, as
well as the vacuum and extreme temperatures of space. Dr Rosa de
la Torre, from Spain's National Institute for Aerospace
Technology in Madrid, says post-flight analysis shows the
lichens not only survived, but still had the ability to
photosynthesise upon their return. Images taken by electron
microscopes showed no cell damage. "[The experiment shows] for
the first time that complex organisms integrated by the
association of seaweed and fungi, are able to resist the
conditions of space without showing apparent dama