The 2003 Columbia disaster killed seven astronauts, but these tiny worms somehow survived the impact, and the reason was aluminium

When Space Shuttle Columbiabroke apart on February 1, 2003, all seven astronauts lost their lives. Yet one NASA experiment survived. Tiny C. elegans worms, protected inside an aluminum research container, were recovered alive from the debris. Their survival transformed scientists' understanding of space biology,microgravity, and protective spacecraft design.