Tardigrades pulled from Antarctic moss can survive a decade without water, temperatures near absolute zero, and a 10-day exposure to the open vacuum of space in 2007, curling into a dehydrated husk they call a tun until conditions improve

In September 2007, roughly 3,000 tardigrades rode the exterior of the European FOTON-M3 capsule through ten days of open vacuum and unfiltered solar radiation. Sixty-eight percent survived, rehydrated, and laid viable eggs — the first animals ever confirmed to live through direct exposure to space.