Can life flourish on the Moon? A lot can be said about this, but one claim states that life would not only have reached the Moon, but would also be thriving there. After the spacecraft named Bearsheet collided with the lunar surface in 2019, the tardigrades sent there may have survived and may have even formed a colony by now. A good argument is being given in support of this claim, but there is also a doubt.
In 2019, SpaceIL’s Israeli spacecraft named Bearsheit was sent to the Moon, which was given technical support by the Israel Space Agency. After its launch on 22 February, it was to make a soft landing on 11 April. According to NASA, Bearsheet had to send data to Earth for two days after landing on the Moon.
But this did not happen because even before landing, the main engine of the vehicle failed and it crashed on the surface of the moon. Among other important things, its cargo contained tardigrades. It is said about these small creatures, about one millimeter long, that they can survive in temperatures ranging from 150 degrees Celsius to extreme cold.
It has been a matter of debate whether tardigrades can survive on the Moon or not. (Symbolic photo: Canva)
These creatures were dried before being placed in the vehicle. Scientists say that tardigrades have a very high chance of surviving in an environment like the Moon. Now according to the report of Science Alert, these small animals might have formed their own colony on the Moon. About whom it is said that they can live anywhere.
Laboratory tests show that the Hypsibius dujaridini species of tardigrade suffered severe damage when it collided with sand while traveling in a vacuum, but survived when the collision occurred at a slower speed, i.e. 2600 kilometers per hour or less. Scientists say that the collision of the moon was somewhat slow. Therefore, there is a high possibility that if water was not necessary for them, they would have remained alive and would have also formed a colony. But many scientists believe that tardigrades cannot survive without water.
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Tags: Bizarre news, OMG News, Weird news
FIRST PUBLISHED: March 5, 2024, 16:33 IST
