MULTI- EXTREMOPHILES
The microscopic tardigrade, or water bear, can survive heat, cold, desiccation, lack of oxygen and radiation. The tiny animal has even been shown to survive a 10-day trip into space, prompting some to suggest it’s the kind of creature that could live on Mars.
Not so. To survive these conditions the tardigrade puts itself into a form of nonreproductive suspended animation.
Some extremophiles, however, really do seem equipped for life on the Red Planet. Subterranean micro-organisms found in Earth’s deepest mines and caves seem to have what it takes to survive below the surface on Mars ( Cosmos 61, p70). Studying Earth’s extremophiles offers a possible glimpse of what alien life may look like – and where to look for it.