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Top 10 Things Launched Into Space in 2008

Wired has compiled its list of Top 10 Things Launched Into Space -- in 2008, that is, precluding both space monkeys and Alice from The Honeymooners. Those that did make the cut, however, included the Jules Verne Automated Transfer Vehicle, the biggest European spacecraft ever built (it's the size of a double-decker bus), as well as the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope, which will probe the universe in high-energy gamma ray light in an attempt to unravel the mysteries of dark matter, black holes, and spinning pulsars.

Number one on the list is tardigrades, or "water bears," microscopic eight-legged organisms known to survive anything you could possibly throw at them. In September of 2008, scientists announced that they'd survived being thown into outer space as well. According to Wired, they deserved to make this year's list "cause they're so damn cute."

Can't argue with that science. [From: Wired]

Tags: pulsars, space, tardigrades, weird