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Survivors of disaster

The C. elegans nemotodes, or round worms, undergoing experimentation on the Space Shuttle.
The C. elegans nemotodes, or round worms, undergoing experimentation on the Space Shuttle. Photo: NASA/Ames/Volker Kern

All seven crew members were killed during the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, but something did pull through this awful episode: worms. Incredibly, containers of roundworms (C. elegans) managed to survive Columbia’s calamitous breakup. The nutrient solution in which they were stored served as a shield, as did the container. The worms also managed to reproduce and spawn a lineage that produced five generations in the months following the accident.

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