Entertainment Report
Crashed spacecraft may have left tiny but tough creatures on the moon
You’ve heard of men on the moon — but what about moss piglets?
Thousands of tardigrades — also known as “water bears” or “moss piglets” — were on board the Beresheet spacecraft when it crash landed on the moon in April.
The tiny creatures are incredibly hardy and can survive extremely low temperatures and harsh conditions– and The Arch Mission Foundation, which sent them into space, believes some may have survived.
Tardigrades are pudgy little animals no longer than one millimeter. They live in water or in the film of water on plants like lichen or moss, and can be found all over the world in some of the most extreme environments, from icy mountains and polar regions to the balmy equator and the depths of the sea.
In an attempt to create a “Noah’s ark” or a “back-up” for the Earth, non-profit organization The Arch Mission sent a lunar library — a stack of DVD-sized disks that acts as an archive of 30 million pages of information about the planet — to the moon. Along with the library, Arch Mission sent human DNA samples and a payload of tardigrades, which had been dehydrated, into space.
“We chose them because they are special. They are the toughest form of life we know of. They can survive practically any planetary cataclysm. They can survive in the vacuum of space, they can survive radiation,” Nova Spivack, co-founder of the Arch Mission Foundation, told CNN.
Tardigrades have eight legs with claws at the end, a brain and central nervous system, and a sucker-like pharynx behind their mouth, which can pierce food.
The Arch Mission put the creatures into a state of “suspended animation,” where the body dries out and the metabolism slows to as little as 0.01% of its normal rate.
“In that state you can later rehydrate them in a laboratory and they will wake up and be alive again,” Spivack explained.
Although the animals won’t be able to reproduce or move around in their dehydrated state — if they have survived the crash — if rehydrated they could come back to life years later.
“We don’t often get a chance to land life on the moon that we decided to seize the day and send some along for the ride,” Spivack added.
Researchers hope that along with the tardigrades, the majority of the information from the lunar library survived the impact of the crash — and could be used to regenerate human life in millions of years.
“Best-case scenario is that the little library is fully intact, sitting on a nice sandy hillside on the moon for a billion years. In the distant future it might be recovered by our descendants or by a future form of intelligent life that might evolve long after we’re gone,” Spivack said.
“From the DNA and the cells that we included, you could clone us and regenerate the human race and other plants and animals,” he added.
By: NBC Palm Springs
August 7, 2019
Latest Instagram Posts
Pregame update from Tim O’Brien ahead of tonight’s preseason matchup between the Coachella Valley Firebirds and the Ontario Reign. Tim has the latest from Acrisure Arena as the Firebirds get set for tonight’s game. UPDATE: Firebirds #CVFirebirds #CoachellaValleyFirebirds #OntarioReign #AHL #Hockey PalmSprings CoachellaValley
Who makes the NBC Top 3, winner will be announced Sunday night on NBC Palm Springs, with the player who makes the number one spot winning a $250 prize from @hondaofthedesert! Comment below if it will be 1) Xzavier Hernandez with the dot towards the back of the endzone, 2) Jesse Rodriguez with the 50 plus yard TD throw, 3) Trace Vargas with the diving TD, 4) Ryan Rumsey with the screen pass TD, making guys miss, or 5) Moyses Aguilar with the pick #fyp #fnl2026 #hondaofthedesert #highschoolfootball #fridaynightlights
Drop your thoughts in the comments 👇 #therogginreport #coachellavalley #localnews #explore #nbcpalmsprings
⚡️ TOP STORY: A man is recovering after he was struck by lightning. Firefighters battled a brush fire along Snow Creek Road, while another lightning strike in Chino Canyon sent a man to the hospital. If you hear thunder, stay indoors for at least 30 minutes after the last rumble. #PalmSprings #Lightning #FireSafety
🚨 Chasing that year-round “summer glow”? A social media tanning trend involving the unapproved peptide melanotan-2 is raising serious safety concerns. Dermatologists say safer sunless tanning options are available. ☀️ #YourHealthToday #SkinHealth #Melanotan2 #TanningSafety
Palm Springs firefighters responded Thursday to a report of a person struck by lightning in the Chino Canyon area. The person was transported to a hospital for medical treatment. Firefighters also responded to a palm tree fire in Chino Canyon that officials say was caused by an apparent lightning strike. NBC Palm Springs News Director David Reese is in the neighborhood tonight knocking on doors and trying to learn more about what happened. Did you see the lightning strike? Did you hear or see anything unusual? Do you know who was struck or have information that could help us understand what happened? We’d like to hear from you. Send us a DM here or contact NBC Palm Springs if you witnessed the incident or have information to share. #PalmSprings #ChinoCanyon #Lightning #PalmSpringsNews #NBCPalmSprings CoachellaValley BreakingNews
Fred Roggin’s response? Show us the receipts! #therogginreport #coachellavalley #localnews #explore #nbcpalmsprings
A $557k budget shortfall … so why do they need $11.3 million in new taxes? Are you voting Yes or No on Measure P? #therogginreport #measurep #localnews #coachellavalley #nbcpalmsprings
School board trustee wears “FAFO” shirt to court deposition. Drop your thoughts in the comments 👇🏽 #therogginreport #coachellavalley #localnews #explore #nbcpalmsprings
Estevan Figueroa of King’s Club Barbershop is giving back across the Coachella Valley — one haircut at a time. He and his team recently gave dozens of free haircuts to kids at the Boys and Girls Club in Cathedral City. Figueroa also provides clothing, essentials and encouragement to people in need. Inspired by lessons from his father, he’s now started a nonprofit to help even more people in the community. “Look good, feel good.” @barbercipactli Read the full story at NBCPalmSprings.com.