If there’s one thing we all know for sure, it’s that the folks at NASA never miss an opportunity to learn something new and potentially useful.

So, we shouldn’t be surprised that they’re totally into scraping the goo off the outside of the International Space Station (ISS) in order to examine it under a microscope.

With temperatures fluctuating between 248 and -148 degrees Fahrenheit, the outside of the ISS is hostile to life.

There’s also the extreme levels of solar radiation and the lack of an atmosphere to consider, as well.

That said, life finds a way – and NASA has been keen to understand the “extremophile” organisms that thrive in these conditions.

Smaller bacteria and microorganisms fare well, and are able to withstand extreme conditions for years.

This leads scientists to wonder whether other parts of the solar system, like Mars, could be able to sustain life.

They expect the current scientists, who are collecting new samples, to find more of the same, and are especially interested in learning more about a species of spore-forming bacteria and fungi that were deposited on cotton wool attached to metal rods outside of the ISS.

They’ve survived in outer space for two whole years.

“The main factors for the long-term survival could be the result of their dehydration and partial [freeze-drying] in the vacuum of near-Earth space.”

Japanese researchers previously documented a bacteria called Deinococcus radiodurans that lasted three years in outer space.

We’re getting closer and closer to understanding how these bacteria and fungi can survive in these extreme conditions, and to applying it to our theories about extraterrestrial life.

If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about a second giant hole has opened up on the sun’s surface. Here’s what it means.