Could tardigrades have colonized the moon?

[Admin]

What happened to the tardigrades that were travelling on the Beresheet probe from Israel that crashed into the moon in 2019?

Could tardigrades have colonized the moon? : Read more

 

[Ken Fabian]

No, tardigrades cannot colonize the moon. That shouldn't even be a question.

Surviving vacuum for a time and reviving afterwards when returned to an environment with air, water and food is not the same as living in vacuum without air, water and food.

 

[Meteoric Marmot]

No, tardigrades cannot colonize the moon. That shouldn't even be a question.

Surviving vacuum for a time and reviving afterwards when returned to an environment with air, water and food is not the same as living in vacuum without air, water and food.

But what if an ice rock splats down in the vicinity and covers the area with a mix of liquid water and hot ejecta? That might produce a favorable environment for them to wake up for a while. How long do they have to be functional to constitute a colonization? Our "colonization" of Earth will end in a billion years when the sun swells up.

Highly improbable, but not impossible. The entire concept of panspermia relies on the idea that a dormant critter can land on an inhospitable planet and flourish once conditions change. Never say never.

 

[Classical Motion]

If the little buggers did awakened they would need living matter to consume. Almost all life needs life to feed upon. Other life is needed to produce the indirect food too.......and so on. One would need a whole living system for any life anywhere.

 

[sciencecompliance]

But what if an ice rock splats down in the vicinity and covers the area with a mix of liquid water and hot ejecta? That might produce a favorable environment for them to wake up for a while. How long do they have to be functional to constitute a colonization? Our "colonization" of Earth will end in a billion years when the sun swells up.

Highly improbable, but not impossible. The entire concept of panspermia relies on the idea that a dormant critter can land on an inhospitable planet and flourish once conditions change. Never say never.

Not possible. Ice hitting the moon would not create liquid water. The lack of atmospheric pressure means it would either remain frozen as ice or vaporize.

 

[Abrakadebra]

Can they become cannibals?

 

[Yigal Harel]

The Beresheet program was a breakthrough milestone in the area of lunar exploration. Although it hard-landed, it proved that exploring the Moon could be within reach of small entities, rather than only superpowers. Beresheet inspired other organizations to follow suit, some of which encountered similar setbacks. Definitely, Beresheet was not intended or planned to carry any kind of organisms to the lunar surface and operated according to international standards. After the landing attempt, the company providing the time capsule claimed that the disk was contaminated. However, this claim was never verified or supported by any testimonies.

 

[Abrakadebra]

The article said if they were on the moon, they had no source of food. Could they start eating each other?