500-year-old 'Blob' sent to Space to be subject of school experiment on Earth
Several pieces of Blob in its dormant state, when its hardened mass called a sclerotium, was launched into space by the ESA onboard an ISS freighter.
A 'Blob' took off into orbit on Tuesday to be the subject of an experiment by school children organised by French astronaut Thomas Pesquet. Blob is an unclassifiable organism. Astronauts aboard the International Space Station are expected to welcome this unusual guest.
This initiative is led by the French National Centre for Space Studies (CNES) in partnership with the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). Several French school students will reproduce Pesquet's experiment with this curious living species on Earth this autumn.
Several pieces of Blob, in its dormant state, when it is a hardened mass called a 'sclerotium', have been launched into space by the European Space Agency (ESA) onboard an ISS refuelling freighter.
What is Blob?
Also called a 'slime mould', Blob appeared on Earth over 500 million years ago, way before animals.
Blob was considered to be a fungus for a long time but in the 1990s it was removed from this category.
In the 1990s it was reclassified as part of the Amoebozoa family, of which the amoeba is also a member.
Blob, or Physarum polycephalum as it is known, is made up of only one cell and several nuclei.
A spongy yellow mass in appearance, it is devoid of a mouth, brain, and legs.
And yet it eats, grows, moves very slowly, and has amazing learning abilities.
The creature can also divide at will and become dormant (without dying) when dehydrated.
What is the goal?
The goal is to observe the effects of weightlessness on this organism compared with those being tested by students on Earth.
Over the course of two controlled experiments, the astronaut will monitor the behaviour of unfed Blobs while the others will be provided with a food source, oatmeal.
On Earth, thousands of Blob specimens will be distributed to 4,500 primary schools, secondary schools and high schools in France.
These Blob specimens will all be cut from the same strain (LU352) as those blasted into space.
Live sessions will take place in order to be able to compare its behaviour with and without gravity.