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Abstract EANA2025-177


Assessment of tardigrades in anhydrobiotic state following a sounding rocket flight

Magdalena Bartylak (1), Filip Wieczorkiewicz (2,3), Adrianna Dolata (1), Paulina Orska (4), Kinga Larisch (1), Kaja Książczak (1), Kacper Dudczak (5), Izabela Poprawa (2) and Łukasz Kaczmarek (1)
(1) Department of Animal Taxonomy and Ecology, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland (2) Institute of Biology, Biotechnology and Environmental Protection, University of Silesia in Katowice, Poland (3) Doctoral School, University of Silesia in Katowice, Poland (4) Department of Systematic Zoology, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland (5) Department of Molecular Virology, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland


Tardigrades (water bears) are a group of microscopic animals, commonly used as model for astrobiological studies, due to their capacity to survive extreme conditions. Utilization of research sounding rockets enables the simultaneous exposure of organisms to multiple stress factors. This study concludes a successful collaboration between teams with experience in flight experiment operations from the student research group at Poznan University of Technology (PUT RocketLab) and space biology researchers from Student Society of Naturalists at Adam Mickiewicz University during “The Spaceport America Cup-Intercollegiate Rocket Competition” in July 2023.

In this study a eutardigrade species Paramacrobiotus experimentalis Kaczmarek, Mioduchowska, Poprawa & Roszkowska et al. 2020 described from Madagascar, known from its good anhydrobiotic ability, was utilized. Specimens were subjected to anhydrobiosis using the standard anhydrobiosis protocol and loaded into the sounding rocket as payload. At the launch site tardigrades were exposed to prevailing weather conditions (35°C, 780 hPa). During the flight sounding rocket experienced 9 G vertical acceleration, reaching a speed of Mach 1.55 and an altitude above 9 km in 42 seconds. Tardigrades placed in the warhead, which separated from the main body of the rocket, experienced a momentary acceleration of approximately 20 G before landing. Specimens from control and experimental groups were analysed for survival and ultrastructural changes within midgut and storage cells.

Tardigrades from the experimental group had survived the launch and were successfully recovered. Transmission electron microscopic did not revealed any differences in ultrastructure of midgut and storage cells in the experimental groups compared to the control groups. The obtained results indicate that specimens performed equally well in both control and experimental groups, i.e. in sounding rocket and on Earth. Despite potential influence from prevailing weather conditions at the launch site and extended transport duration, no significant changes were detected in survivability or cell ultrastructure.