1) there is no air in space. there is no way that anything can
disintigrate due to old age if there is no air present in the place.

Nani?

IIRC, NASA did some experiments that involved attaching samples of 
various materials to the outside of a satellite, which was later 
retrieved. I saw photographs of the samples, and they were most 
definitely degraded. Cosmic/solar radiation and collisions with 
micrometeors caused the degradation. 

Also, there were some tomato seeds aboard the satellite. When the 
satellite was retrieved, NASA distributed the seeds to various 
schools, where they were planted, and things like germination rate 
were recorded. I remember a newscast which had some parents worrying 
that perhaps cosmic radiation had mutated the seed's DNA, the end 
result being a plant that produced poisonous tomatoes, and what would 
happen if their kid happened to eat one?  

AAAAAAH! Attack of the Killer Tomatoes!!! :)

- Sean Connor (connor@meena.cc.uregina.ca)

        "It jams." - Intel TV ad, referring to the Pentium chip.