Why have scientists sent moss into space?

Researchers were surprised to find that moss spores germinated after nine months hanging out on the outside of the International Space Station. Ellie and Laura dive into their research and go beyond it to look at why some things survive in space, the benefits of doing this sort of research and what it might mean for a more resilient ecosystem here on Earth.

Fact check:

• News about the space moss
• More news
• The original research article on the space moss
• The basics about radiation in space
• Tardigrades can survive some types of UV radiation
• How tardigrades have a genetic response to repair radiation damage
• The BBC Future article Laura mentions about various experiments on tardigrades