There are Tardigrades on the Moon. Now what?

The Tardigrades, who live on all continents of the Earth, also live (perhaps) on the moon, following the crash of a lunar lander carrying thousands of microscopic bears.

Has any of them survived the impact? If they did, what happens now?

When the tardigrades were placed on the Israeli lunar Beresheet mission, they were in a tunic-dehydrated state, their chubby limbs and heads were retracted and any metabolic activity was temporarily suspended. Their the arrival on the moon was unexpectedly explosive; The hard landing of Beresheet on April 11 may have scattered microorganisms on the lunar surface.

Tubby tardigrades are notoriously difficultBut were the Beresheet tardigrades robust enough to survive this impact? It is certainly possible that some of them went to the moon intact. But what would it mean for the moon to have what could be thousands of Earth microbes as new inhabitants? And what could it mean for tardigrades?

Related: 8 Reasons Why We Love Tardigrades

First of all, is there a person in trouble for accidentally spilling tardigrades on the moon? C & # 39; a complicated questionbut the short answer is no. Space agencies around the world are following a decades-old treatise on what is allowed to be left on the moon, and the only explicit bans concern weapons and experiments or tools that could interfere with the missions of other agencies , according to the 1967 declaration. Treaty on Outer Space.

In the decades following the treaty, other guidelines were created that recognize the risks of seeding terrestrial microbes in other worlds. These stipulations define the sterilization practices of mission equipment to avoid contamination. Although major space agencies generally conform to these rules, there is no single entity to enforce them globally. Posted previously.

Scientists have yet to find any evidence that the moon has ever living organisms hosted (other than visiting astronauts and Earth's microbial hitchhikers) who may be threatened by microscopic invaders. However, the contamination could have serious consequences for missions on planets where life could still be found, such as Mars; Experts suggest that a potential consequence of the colonization of Mars could be the extermination of native microbial life by exposure to bacteria from the Earth.

It is possible that even before crushing the late Beresheet on the Moon, other forms of terrestrial microbes already existed: intestinal bacteria in abandoned bags of poop from astronauts, said Mark Martin, associate professor of biology at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. .

"I would be very surprised if you could not grow some things out of the center of this freeze-dried material," Martin told Live Science. "Especially the spores-trainers.They form a very thick outer layer of their spore proteins that is known to protect them from dehydration, radiation – a variety of things."

Only survivor

Tardigrads survive conditions that can destroy most other organisms; they do this by expelling water from their bodies and generating compounds that seal and protect the structure of their cells. Creatures can stay in this so-called tunic state for months and relive despite the presence of water. scientists even resurrected two tardigrades from 30 years freezing in 2016.

As a tun, a tardigrade can withstand boiling, freezing, high pressures and even the void of space, the European Space Agency (ESA) reported in 2008, after sending bears in water in orbit. Ultraviolet light has been shown to be the kryptonite of tardigrades, as few creatures survived total exposure to ultraviolet light during ESA experiments.

This could be good news for the dried Beresheet tardigrades. If they land at a place on the moon protected from UV rays, microscopic creatures might have a chance to survive, Martin said.

"I suppose if we went back in the year to come, get the debris and find these tiny lightning and put them in the water, some of them would come back to life," he said. he explained.

But as long as the tardigrades remain on the moon, their chances of waking up spontaneously are low. Without liquid water, tiny creatures will remain in a tunic state, and although there is evidence of ice on the moon, the liquid water is not found.

Even if lunar tardigrades encountered a certain amount of liquid water while they were still on the moon, with no food, no air and no moderate ambient temperature, they would not last very long, Kazuharu Arakawa, a late scientist at the Institute for Advanced Biosciences from Keio University in Tokyo, said Live Science in an email.

"Even if I would like to see the establishment of the Late Lunar Republic, I do not think that will happen," Martin said.

Originally published on Science live.