India, Oct. 29 -- Some tiny passengers became astronauts. They rode around the Moon on Artemis I, and they came back having grown. According to a NASA Task Book report, all 20 fungus samples on the flight showed growth when they were examined after returning to Earth. The samples included a black mold, Aspergillus niger, and three mutant lab-made versions of it. The experiment was built by scientists at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL). They wanted to know how fungi would cope in deep space.

Space is a harsh environment for living things. Beyond the magnetic shield of Earth, radiation is a greater concern. It can end up damaging DNA, the instruction code in our cells. The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, citing NASA, explained tha...