What are water bears & why is Shubhanshu Shukla taking them to space?
The India-US Axiom-4 mission, including Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, will be taking water bears or tardigrades to the International Space Station (ISS). Tardigrade are microscopic eight-legged animals, measuring 0.3 mm to 0.5 mm in length, which are known to survive in most dire physical environments. An ISRO project will probe their revival, survival, and reproduction on ISS.