NASA, along with student teams across the US, is sending high-altitude balloons that will test the ability of life to survive beyond Earth as well as livestream footage of the upcoming total solar eclipse from the edge of space. Total solar eclipses are rare and awe-inspiring events. <br/><br/>Angela Des Jardins from Montana State University in the US said nobody has ever live-streamed aerial video footage of a total solar eclipse before. A research group at NASA's Ames Research Center, in California's Silicon Valley, is seizing the opportunity to conduct a low-cost experiment on 34 of the balloons. <br/><br/>This experiment, called MicroStrat, will simulate life's ability to survive beyond Earth – and maybe even on Mars.<br/>NASA will provide each team with two small metal cards, that have harmless, yet environmentally resilient bacteria dried onto their surface. One card will fly up with the balloon while the other remains on the ground. A comparison of the two will show the consequences of the exposure to Mars-like conditions, such as bacterial survival and any genetic changes.<br/><br/>The results of the experiment will improve NASA's understanding of environmental limits for terrestrial life, in order to inform the search for life on other worlds.

NASA, along with student teams across the US, is sending high-altitude balloons that will test the ability of life to survive beyond Earth as well as livestream footage of the upcoming total solar eclipse from the edge of space. Total solar eclipses are rare and awe-inspiring events. <br/><br/>Angela Des Jardins from Montana State University in the US said nobody has ever live-streamed aerial video footage of a total solar eclipse before. A research group at NASA's Ames Research Center, in California's Silicon Valley, is seizing the opportunity to conduct a low-cost experiment on 34 of the balloons. <br/><br/>This experiment, called MicroStrat, will simulate life's ability to survive beyond Earth – and maybe even on Mars.<br/>NASA will provide each team with two small metal cards, that have harmless, yet environmentally resilient bacteria dried onto their surface. One card will fly up with the balloon while the other remains on the ground. A comparison of the two will show the consequences of the exposure to Mars-like conditions, such as bacterial survival and any genetic changes.<br/><br/>The results of the experiment will improve NASA's understanding of environmental limits for terrestrial life, in order to inform the search for life on other worlds.