SpaceIL Lander could have sent thousands of Tardigrades to the Moon

When the SpaceIL ship Beresheet crashed on the moon earlier this year, it left more than one mark of impact. Part of the payload of the LG was a lunar library, the size of a DVD case, which included an archive of human history consisting of books, photographs, illustrations and documents, as well as of human DNA samples. And there were also a few extra passengers for the ride – thousands of tardigrades, micro-animals also called water bears.

Tardigrads live in the water and are known as the Earth's most enduring creatures because they can live in extreme environments, even in space, and they can hibernate to survive without access to food or water. Now, they may be trying to create a house on the moon.

Nova Spivack, founder of the Arch Mission Foundation, responsible for the inclusion of tardigrades in the payload of the Beresheet lander, said that despite the crash, the group thinks that the tardigrades have managed to clear their way to the moon. "The Tardigrades are ideal to include because they are microscopic, multicellular and constitute one of the most sustainable life forms on the planet Earth," he said in an interview with AFP.

Before being sent on a lunar mission, the tardigrades were dehydrated to place them in a sort of "suspended animation". They were coated with epoxy for their safety and could theoretically be revivable in the future. As long as they survived the crash, that's it. The epoxy should have helped protect the library when the craft hit the moon, and it may be lying near the accident site.

So, if the tardigrades are still alive, they are dormant and will not take the moon any time soon. It's probably for the better, even if even if the little creatures relived, the Moon was not subjected to sterilization rules as serious as other places in the solar system. According to Wired, NASA's Planetary Protection Office imposes rules on contamination based on a site's ability to support life. With regard to Mars, for example, there will be strict rules regarding the types of life that can be introduced into the environment. But on the barren moon, it's not a problem.

However, we now know that it is quite possible that life on the moon takes the form of thousands of tiny, sturdy bears sleeping in an epoxy case.