Newsfrom Japan
Nov 21, 2025 17:26 (JST)
Tokyo, Nov. 21 (Jiji Press)–Most moss spores germinated normally after spending about nine months in outer space, a team of researchers in Japan said Friday, confirming that mosses can survive for an extended period in the harsh space environment.
The team’s findings were published in the U.S. journal iScience.
In the study, sporophytes filled with spores of Physcomitrium patens were put inside a device placed outside Japan’s Kibo experimental module at the International Space Station. After the spores were exposed to the space environment between March and December 2022, they were brought back to Earth.
The germination rates of a group of spores shielded from visible light and ultraviolet rays in space, a group shielded from ultraviolet rays in space and a group shielded from both visible light and ultraviolet rays on Earth came to over 95-97 pct.
Even a group exposed to ultraviolet rays in space had a high survival rate, with the germination rate standing at 86 pct.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]