Tardigrades are an excellent opportunity to unlock the secrets of the cosmos and extraterrestrial biology. Tardigrades are a ubiquitous extremophile found on every continent of Earth. Tardigrades have often been used to support the Panspermia Hypothesis. The Panspermia Hypothesis states that microorganisms or biochemical compounds from outer space are responsible for originating life on Earth and possibly in other parts of the universe where suitable atmospheric conditions exist. Supporting the Panspermia Hypothesis is valuable to science because it will encourage the exploration of space and the quest to discover extraterrestrial life.
The People
The people with interests in Project Stratobear range from astrobiologists, to medical researchers. Astrobiologists are interested because of the application of the project to the Panspermia Hypothesis and furthering their field of studying extra terrestrial life. Another group of people interested in Project Stratobear is amateur scientists. They could possibly inspired by Project Stratobear because it shows you do not need to be a multi-million dollar corporation to carry out scientific research and make discoveries. The medical fields are interested in the project because the cryptobiotic state of the tardigrade can lead to new ways medicinal fields can preserve medications.
Astrobiology is the study of extra terrestrial life.
A tardigrades cryptobiotic state can possibly be used to preserve medicine.
Leonardo da Vinci a famous amateur scientist dedicated to discovery.
Pharmaceuticals are plagued by short shelf lives of medicine, leading to profit loss.
The Problem or Application
Tardigrades must be researched because of their application to the Panspermia Hypothesis. The project can lead to support of the Panspermia Hypothesis by proving tardigrades are able to survive the atmospheric conditions involved in re-entering the Earth's atmosphere. By supporting the Panspermia Hypothesis we would be encouraging deep space exploration because proof of Panspermia supports the notion of planets with a habitable atmosphere. Also we would be assisting medical fields in preserving medication and extending shelf lives, reducing waste and improving pharmaceuticals.
Weather balloons can discover many statistics about the atmosphere.
Proof of the Panspermia Hypothesis means proof of planets that can sustain life.
Interstellar travel and human colonization can be supported by proof of Panspermia.
The universe is vast. We are merely a speck in the already vast milkyway.
Extra terrestrial life may be as small as microbes.
The Stake Holders
The stake holders in the project are investors and company owners in the fields of space manufacturing and pharmaceuticals. These stake holders would benefit from this project because for space manufactures it would improve the quest for extraterrestrial life and space exploration and pharmaceuticals could improve their products shelf life, therefore reducing profit losses. Both of these industries are important in the modern day however, the space industry could use more popular support from other scientific groups.
The space industry and pharmaceuticals is big business.
Pharmaceutical companies could improve shelf lives of medicine by using cryptobiosis.
Pills are manufactured like any other product. The companies experience losses from expired medicine.
The space industry is a multi-billion dollar manufacturing ordeal.
SpaceX now paves the way for space travel.
The Mood
The mood of our design project is functionality and discovery. Our probe needs to be functional at recording data and containing the tardigrades. However, the overall "feel" of the project is one of a passion for discovery. The project seeks to uncover the mysteries of one of the most interesting organisms on Earth. The truth about the tardigrade will still be unknown after our project, but we will be that much closer to discovering where it came from and why it is ubiquitous.
The data recorded in the project must be accurate and plentiful.
These chairs show functionality over aesthetics.
Discovery is a goal of Project Stratobear.
The moon walk is an example of a great human discovery and innovation.
Though the cube looks plain, it holds things just as well as a nice looking bag.
Similar Projects and Methods
Similar products to Project Stratobear are quite common. Numerous people do weather balloon tests every year. These tests discover atmospheric conditions in different regions, but they do not often test living organisms within these balloons. Project Stratobear is also similar to running tests on lab rats. By combining these two aspects of science, ballooning and animal testing, we hope to discover more about the tardigrade and the ways it can or cannot survive atmospheric re-entry.
This is an example of a compartmentalized box. This is a horizontal compartmentalization while ours is a vertical.
This tupperware is divided vertically instead of horizontally for separation. Similar to our design this separates the two items.
This is an arduino board used to record data in a high altitude balloon.
A NOAA balloon recording weather patterns.
Large scale NASA balloon.
Lab rats used in scientific research.
Petri dish of bacteria used for medicinal research.
Closing Words
Project Stratobear is a research project that hopes to solve the mystery of the tardigrade. The project will carry out this research by using a weather balloon launched with a tardigrade payload. The weather balloon will expose the tardigrades to numerous atmospheric conditions that space matter would be exposed to while entering Earth's atmosphere. The probe will also record atmospheric data to determine whether or not the tardigrades survived the flight. The project hopes to spur interest and advance in numerous fields. Pharmaceuticals and space manufacturing being the main fields. The space industry would be improved by support of the Panspermia Hypothesis, because it would show there are other habitable planets in the universe, while the pharmaceutical industry would be improved by further research on the tardigrade's cryptobiotic ability because it would allow shelf lives of medicine to be improved.
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