By Stephen Beech

Moss has survived nine months exposed to outer space.

The simple plant continued to thrive in the vacuum of space during an experiment conducted on the exposure facility of the International Space Station (ISS).

The moss even made it back to Earth after 283 days - still capable of reproducing.

And scientists calculated that the spores could have survived for up to 5,600 days - around 15 years - in space.

The ground-breaking experiment is the first time it has been shown that a land plant can survive long-term exposed to the elements of space.

The research team hope their findings help towards developing ecosystems in extraterrestrial environments, such as on the Moon or Mars.

Mosses thrive in the most extreme environments on Earth, including the peaks of the Himal

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