Lost In Space

Lost in Space

There may well be life on the moon now, and humans are responsible for it.

Recently, the privately funded Israeli lander Beresheet released one of Earth’s hardiest creatures after accidentally crash-landing on the moon’s surface, the Guardian reported.

Scientists believe that thousands of tiny tardigrades – also known as water bears or moss piglets – are the only survivors of the incident since they are almost indestructible.

The microscopic eight-legged creatures can shrug off fatal conditions by turning into a dormant seed-like pod, which allows them to survive high temperatures, radiation and the vacuum of space – to name just a few calamities. To bring them back to life, just add water.

“Tardigrades can survive pressures that are comparable to those created when asteroids strike Earth, so a small crash like this is nothing to them,” according to tardigrade researcher Lukasz Kaczmarek.

In their dormant state, it appears that even the aging process stops – a trait with obvious implications for any future space colonization efforts.

“It may be that we can use this in the future if we plan missions to different planets, because we will need to be young when we get there,” Kaczmarek said.

Despite the tiny animals’ superhuman abilities, any sleeping survivors of Beresheet’s crash won’t be colonizing the moon. Earth’s satellite lacks the liquid water needed to reactivate them.