Hordes of Earth's toughest creatures may now be living on Moon
A scanning 電子 microscope image of the hydrated tardigrade, Ramazzottius varieornatus
There might be life on the Moon after all: thousands of 事実上 indestructible creatures that can withstand extreme 放射（能）, sizzling heat, the coldest 気温s of the universe, and １０年間s without food.
These terrifying-sounding 存在s aren't 外国人s but instead microscopic Earthlings known as tardigrades, who likely made it out alive に引き続いて a 衝突，墜落 上陸 on the lunar surface by イスラエル's Beresheet 調査（する） in April, the US-based organization 責任がある their trip said Tuesday.
Based on an 分析 of the 宇宙船's trajectory and the composition of the 装置 the micro-animals were 蓄える／店d in, "we believe the chances of 生き残り for the tardigrades... are 極端に high," Nova Spivack, co-創立者 and chairman of the Arch 使節団 創立／基礎, told AFP.
The 非，不，無-利益（をあげる） is 献身的な to spreading backups of human knowledge and Earth's biology throughout the Solar System, a 追求（する），探索（する） it に例えるs to the 創造 of an "Encyclopedia Galactica" first evoked by sci-fi writer Isaac Asimov.
Tardigrades: toughest creatures on Earth
"Tardigrades are ideal to 含む because they are microscopic, multicellular, and one of the most 持続する forms of life on 惑星 Earth," said Spivack.
He 追加するd that the diminutive creatures, which are under a ミリメートル (0.04 インチs) in size, had been dehydrated to place them in 一時停止するd 活気／アニメーション, then "encased in an epoxy of 人工的な Amber, and should be revivable in the 未来."
The tardigrades were 蓄える／店d inside a "Lunar Library," a nanotechnology 装置 that 似ているs a DVD and 含む／封じ込めるs a 30-million-page 古記録 of human history viewable under microscopes, 同様に as human デオキシリボ核酸.
Spivack is 確信して this too 生き残るd 衝撃 -- but it doesn't 代表する the first genetic code or life forms to be deposited on the barren 天体.
That distinction belongs to the デオキシリボ核酸 and microbes 含む／封じ込めるd in the almost 100 捕らえる、獲得するs of feces and urine left behind by American 宇宙飛行士s during the Apollo lunar 上陸s from 1969-1972.
- No 救助（する） 使節団 -
Also known as water 耐えるs or moss piglets, tardigrades can live in water or on land, and are 有能な of 生き残るing 気温s as high as 150 degrees Celsius (302 degrees Fahrenheit) and as low as minus 272 degrees Celsius (-458 Fahrenheit), albeit for a few minutes.
A Falcon 9 開始する，打ち上げるing the Nusantara Satu 衛星 to 軌道 from Space 開始する，打ち上げる コンビナート／複合体 40 (SLC-40), carrying イスラエル's Beresheet 宇宙船, at Cape Canaveral 空気／公表する 軍隊 駅／配置する, Florida
The grub-like, eight-legged animals can come 支援する from 存在 乾燥した，日照りのd out to a lifeless husk for １０年間s, withstand 近づく-無 圧力 in outer space and the 鎮圧するing depths of the Mariana ざん壕.
If they did not 燃やす up in an 爆発, they could in theory 生き残る the tiny 圧力 on the lunar surface, and the extremes of 気温, William Miller, a tardigrades 専門家 at パン職人 University, told AFP.
"But to become active, to grow, eat, and 再生する they would need water, 空気／公表する and food," so it would not be possible for them to multiply and form a 植民地, he 追加するd.
航空宇宙局 astrobiologist Cassie Conley said that their exact 生き残り time would depend on the 条件 of the 衝撃 場所／位置 and the 気温s to which they are exposed.
A facial 見解（をとる） of the tardigrade, Ramazzottius varieornatus
"If they don't get too hot, it's possible they could 生き残る for やめる a long time (many years)," she told AFP.
"I'd be more 関心d that the animals would be 影響する／感情d by 有毒な 化学製品s from the epoxy or glue" used to 蓄える／店 them, as …に反対するd to 条件s in space, she 追加するd.
Even if the creatures lived on for several years, there is no 乗組員d 使節団 to the Moon planned until 航空宇宙局's Artemis program in 2024 at the south 政治家 -- far from Beresheet's 衝突，墜落 場所／位置 on the Sea of Serenity, so they probably won't make it home.
"It is ありそうもない that they will be 救助（する）d in time, so my guess is that, even if they 生き残るd, they are doomed," Rafael Alves Batista, a physicist at Sao Paulo university who co-authored a 2017 paper on tardigrades' extreme resilience, told AFP.
