The moon now has life on it

[nascarlaser1]

https://www.wired.com/story/a-crashed-israeli-lunar-lander-spilled-tardigrades-on-the-moon/

[RealKerbal3x]

That’s either cool, or very bad, depending on your stance on NASA’s planetary protection protocols.

[Guest]

Not a cause of concern. Tardigrades need liquid water to function. The dehydrated forms can survive extreme conditions, but cannot actually live (as in, move around and reproduce) in them, they need to be hydrated for that, and ice will not do. That said, it would be very interesting to land a manned mission next to the crash site and pick up what's left.

BTW, NASA isn't too concerned with people leaving crap on the moon, considering they did it themselves, in a quite literal way, during Apollo missions. 

[cubinator]

But did they survive the 138 m/s crash into rock?

[Guest]

Probably. They are pretty robust, as far as G tolerance goes. Most small organisms are. As long as they weren't mechanically crushed, they should be fine. 

[Wjolcz]

Earth has been swapping rocks with other celestial bodies for the last 4.5 billion years. That's why I won't be surprised if there are archaea and bacteria living all over the solar system. I don't think some (soon to be dead) organisms on the surface of the Moon is that big of a deal in comparison.

Edited August 6, 2019 by Wjolcz

[Guest]

They were tardigrades, presumably dehydrated ones. So hardly "soon to be dead". Inactive, yes, but if there's ever a manned mission into the region, they can probably be recovered alive.

[kerbiloid]

10 hours ago, cubinator said:

But did they survive the 138 m/s crash into rock?

If so, too bad for them.

12 hours ago, nascarlaser1 said:

https://www.wired.com/story/a-crashed-israeli-lunar-lander-spilled-tardigrades-on-the-moon/

I would not be surprised if there are remains of a lost-and-not-found sandwich inside. So, maybe, there is a whole lunar oasis now.

11 hours ago, RealKerbal3x said:

NASA’s planetary protection protocols.

SCP. Now IRL.

[Guest]

11 hours ago, cubinator said:

But did they survive the 138 m/s crash into rock?

Moss Piglets are practically indestructible XD 

...and also cute as buttons ;3

exhibit A:

Edited August 7, 2019 by Guest

[Wjolcz]

BTW, wasn't there a camera lens with bacteria left by the Apollo astronauts, or something?

[magnemoe]

39 minutes ago, Wjolcz said:

BTW, wasn't there a camera lens with bacteria left by the Apollo astronauts, or something?

Apollo even left cameras and everything not needed anymore including food waste and crap

However one mission took home an lense and some other parts from an probe lander who landed some year earlier.
This contained bacteria who came alive. 
Some organismes can survive in space but none can live.

[kerbiloid]

2 minutes ago, magnemoe said:

Apollo even left cameras and everything not needed anymore including food waste and crap

And they are telling us about the bootprints lasting for millions years...
Imagine the joy of the future archaeologists just finding this time capsule with gifts for descendants.

Edited August 7, 2019 by kerbiloid

[RealKerbal3x]

This forum has caused a problem between me and tardigrades.

Whenever I see a picture of a tardigrade, I can only think of @Snark 

[magnemoe]

38 minutes ago, RealKerbal3x said:

This forum has caused a problem between me and tardigrades.

Whenever I see a picture of a tardigrade, I can only think of @Snark 

 

[nascarlaser1]

2 hours ago, RealKerbal3x said:

This forum has caused a problem between me and tardigrades.

Whenever I see a picture of a tardigrade, I can only think of @Snark 

I have a tiny image in my head of a tardigrade sitting on a microscopic computer on the moon playing KSP XD. (also snark is how i discovered and got obsessed with tardigrades :D)

[NSEP]

I once had a tardigrade profile picture on Youtube and someone thought i was snark.

But im pretty sure that there is life on the moon that survived the harsh conditions and is hibernating in a shadow or something.

[kerbiloid]

31 minutes ago, NSEP said:

But im pretty sure that there is life on the moon that survived the harsh conditions and is hibernating in a shadow or something.

And waits...

[lajoswinkler]

The container they were in couldn't survive since the impact was at some 1 km/s. It all turned into tiny bits, scattered along regolith. They were all likely all permanently dead in few days from the intense UV at high temperature and vacuum.

Tardigrades are not like the popular media portrays them and basically all you know about them (if your source of information has been popular "science" posts on social networks) is just a disinformation.

7 hours ago, Dale Christopher said:

Moss Piglets are practically indestructible XD 

...and also cute as buttons ;3

exhibit A:

 

No, far from indestructible. They're very delicate. It's the single special controlled conditions they can survive in suspended animation... for a while. And not all of them.

18 hours ago, cubinator said:

But did they survive the 138 m/s crash into rock?

That was vertical velocity. Horizontal one was almost 950 m/s.

[kerbiloid]

Ouch...

So...
Should @Snark now change his profile picture?

[nascarlaser1]

2 hours ago, kerbiloid said:

Ouch...

So...
Should @Snark now change his profile picture?

Space Tardigrade!

[cubinator]

4 hours ago, kerbiloid said:

Ouch...

So...
Should @Snark now change his profile picture?

No, he survived and is now Emperor of the Moon.

[Guest]

15 hours ago, lajoswinkler said:

far from indestructible. They're very delicate

They are considered the toughest animal on Earth so not too delicate...

[Guest]

They are delicate. As in, if you're careless with the cover plate while preparing them for microscope observation, you can squish them. Same as pretty much any other organism of this size. This is one thing they do not survive. The "toughest animal on Earth" means they can survive, in a dehydrated form, a great variety of extreme conditions. This does not refer to mechanical resistance.

[lajoswinkler]

5 hours ago, Dale Christopher said:

They are considered the toughest animal on Earth so not too delicate...

Controlled conditions, yes.

In September 2007, dehydrated tardigrades were taken into low Earth orbit on the FOTON-M3 mission carrying the BIOPAN astrobiology payload. For 10 days, groups of tardigrades were exposed to the hard vacuum of outer space, or vacuum and solar UV radiation. After being rehydrated back on Earth, over 68% of the subjects protected from high-energy UV radiation revived within 30 minutes following rehydration, although subsequent mortality was high; many of these produced viable embryos.

 

Does this look like "immortal toughest animal"? No. The devil is in the details. They are very delicate organisms, but the species is very resilient in a certain span and combination of conditions.

 

If they were so incredibly tough as simplistic IFLS-like news portals claim, they would be everywhere, but they are not. If you want to get some, damp moss is the best place to look for. Damp moss is not exactly everywhere.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, lajoswinkler said:

Does this look like "immortal toughest animal"? 

Who are you replying too... I didn’t see anyone say they were immortal. Yer they die... but unless you can name another animal that can potentially survive all the things they can then they would seem to be the worlds toughest animal @_@?