A private Israeli spacecraft called Beresheet was launched in 2019 with the goal of landing on the Moon. On board were thousands of tardigrades, also known as "water bears," which are tiny, resilient animals that can withstand extreme conditions. The spacecraft crashed into the lunar surface, but due to the tardigrades' ability to survive in a state of dormancy, it's possible that some may have survived. This has sparked interest in using tardigrades for space research, including a proposal to send them to the nearest star system using a powerful laser for propulsion. The idea raises questions about the origins of life on Earth and the possibility of sending life to other celestial bodies. Some scientists are considering the ethics of sending microorganisms or human DNA samples to space, and the potential for life to have originated from elsewhere in the universe.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. Several thousand tardigrades were sent to the Moon on the Beresheet spacecraft.
2. The Beresheet spacecraft was the first private spacecraft designed to land on the Moon.
3. The spacecraft's name, Beresheet, means "beginning" in Hebrew.
4. The Beresheet spacecraft was developed by three Israeli engineers, not a country's space agency.
5. Only the USA, Russia, and China had successfully landed a spacecraft on the Moon before Beresheet.
6. The Beresheet spacecraft carried a digitized library of 30 million pages and human DNA samples.
7. Tardigrades are small animals that range in size from 0.5 to 1.5 mm.
8. Tardigrades have a cylindrical body, a head that can move independently, and eyes.
9. Tardigrades use their eight legs with claws to crawl slowly.
10. The word "Tardigrada" means "slow walker" in Latin.
11. Tardigrades are also known as "water bears" due to their appearance.
12. Tardigrades can survive in extreme conditions, including temperatures from -272°C to 150°C.
13. Tardigrades can survive in a vacuum and can withstand high radiation.
14. Tardigrades can go into a cryptobiotic state called "tun" and return to their normal state after decades of starvation and thirst.
15. In 2011, Italian scientists sent tardigrades to the International Space Station, where they survived for 12 days in low Earth orbit.
16. 68% of the 3000 tardigrades sent to the International Space Station continued to lay eggs and reproduce after returning to Earth.
17. Scientists have proposed using tardigrades for space-related research due to their resilience.
18. A group of scientists led by two professors from UC Santa Barbara University proposed sending tardigrades to another star system using a powerful laser for propulsion.
19. The proposal aims to reach 20% of the speed of light, which would take 20 years to reach the nearest star.
20. The spacecraft would be the size of a DVD and would carry tardigrades or C. elegans.
21. The tardigrades would be put into a "tun" state before being placed on the spacecraft and would be thawed by the heat of plutonium on board as the spacecraft approaches its target.
22. The plan is to study the effects of long journeys on animal biology and potentially gain insights into human space travel.
23. The ancient Greek philosopher Anaxagoras proposed the idea of panspermia, which suggests that life on Earth originated from seeds of life dispersed throughout the universe.
24. Tardigrades have been found to be able to survive in space and could potentially have originated from another celestial body.
25. There are ongoing discussions about the ethics of sending microorganisms or human DNA samples to other celestial bodies.