SpaceX wants to send water bears and glowing squids to the space station

SpaceX plans to perform the 22nd cargo resupply mission signed with NASA at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 13:29 on June 3 (1:29 on June 4, Beijing time) with the Falcon 9 rocket.

Among them are 5,000 water bear worms, 128 small squids that only emit light, solar panels and so on.

Water bear insects are commonly known as tardigrade animals.

A European research team even sent 3,000 water bears into space in 2007.

The "Cell Science-04" tardigrade animal experiment sent the water bear to the International Space Station to find the relevant genes for the water bear to adapt and survive in a high-stress environment.

Thomas Boothby, assistant professor of molecular biology at the University of Wyoming and principal investigator of the "Cell Science-04" tardigrade animal experiment, said that space flight is very challenging for organisms, including humans.

The bobtail squid is about 3 millimeters long.

The symbiotic relationship between luminescent bacteria and bobtail squid, a single bacteria and a single host tissue, makes it easy for researchers to track how this interaction unfolds.

In addition, some astronauts are more susceptible to kidney stones during flight, which may affect health and mission success.