Produced by: Tarun Mishra Designed by: Muskan Arora
Recent revelations have surfaced regarding the presence of tardigrades, microscopic creatures renowned for their resilience, on the Moon's desolate terrain, according to a report by The Conversation.
The discovery traces back to the Beresheet mission, an ambitious endeavour launched on February 22, 2019, by SpaceIL and Israel Aerospace Industries. This unmanned space probe, equipped with an array of scientific instruments, including tardigrades, aimed to execute a soft landing on the lunar surface.
The Beresheet mission encountered a series of technical setbacks from its inception. Notably, crucial star tracker cameras, designed to determine the spacecraft's orientation, malfunctioned, complicating the control of its motors. Additionally, during the critical descent phase on April 11, 2019, a gyroscope failure disrupted the braking manoeuvre, resulting in a catastrophic crash landing.
Despite the mission's tragic outcome, tardigrades showcased their exceptional resilience. These microscopic organisms, known for their ability to withstand extreme conditions, including dehydration and radiation exposure, persisted amidst the lunar wreckage.
Often referred to as water bears, tardigrades are tiny, eight-legged invertebrates that inhabit various environments across the globe. When faced with unfavourable conditions like freezing temperatures or high levels of radiation, these creatures contract into a desiccated form known as a tun and enter a state of prolonged hibernation.
Tardigrades, measuring less than a millimeter in length, possess an array of unique adaptations that enable their survival in harsh environments. Their capability to enter cryptobiosis, a dormant state, allows them to endure adverse conditions by shutting down metabolic processes.
Laboratory experiments conducted on tardigrades underscore their resilience to various stressors. Despite encountering impact velocities lower than anticipated and exposure to radiation, tardigrades demonstrated survivability, suggesting their potential endurance on the lunar surface.
However, the lunar environment poses significant challenges for tardigrades' colonization aspirations. Extreme temperature fluctuations, ranging from -170 to -190°C during the lunar night to 100 to 120°C during the day, coupled with the absence of liquid water and essential resources, present formidable obstacles.
The inadvertent presence of tardigrades on the Moon raises pertinent ethical questions regarding the unintentional contamination of extraterrestrial environments. Concerns regarding the potential consequences of such contamination on future space exploration endeavours and the detection of extraterrestrial life emerge.
The discovery of tardigrades on the Moon underscores the imperative of exercising caution and implementing stringent contamination prevention measures in space missions. Preserving the integrity of celestial bodies ensures the preservation of opportunities for scientific inquiry and ethical exploration beyond Earth's confines.