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I know from reading that a human in vacuum needs a space-suit to survive.

Is the body of any organism on Earth capable of living equally in vacuum, and on/below Earth's surface within the atmosphere?

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I think this is more of a physics question than biology. – Armatus Jun 19 '12 at 19:49
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Any body? As in you're looking for an organism that is capable of surviving in a vacuum and with an atmosphere or you're looking for Chuck Norris? Assuming not the latter , google suggests this but it's an unreferenced Wiki point :/ – Rory M♦ Jun 19 '12 at 20:33
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On what's surface? – Noah Snyder Jun 19 '12 at 23:26
Yeah, what do you mean by 'on its surface'? – Richard Smith Jun 20 '12 at 14:28
Why the negative vote? – Everyone Jun 21 '12 at 9:41
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2 Answers

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Remarkably, Tardigrades are multi-cellular animals which can survive the vacuum of space.

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I even think NASA sent a few of them up to space, brought them back to earth and awakened them... – Zewz Jun 19 '12 at 23:31
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Adding to Noah's answer, some lichens can survive the vacuum of space too. In an experiment led by Leopoldo Sancho from the Complutense University of Madrid, two species of lichen - Rhizocarpon geographicum and Xanthoria elegans - were sealed in a capsule and launched on a Russian Soyuz rocket on 31 May 2005. The lichens were in perfect condition when observed after the return to earth.

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