---
title: "Crashed Moon Lander Splattered Live Organisms Onto Lunar Surface"
description: "Israeli lunar lander Beresheet crashed onto the surface of the Moon on April 11 spilling thousands of dehydrated \"water bears\" or tardigrades."
date: "2019-08-06"
modified: "2019-08-06"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/crashed-moon-lander-living-organisms-tardigrades"
categories:
  - "Astronomy"
  - "Moon"
  - "Science & Energy"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "lunar lander"
  - "spaceil"
  - "tardigrade"
  - "Tardigrades"
  - "the digest"
---

# Crashed Moon Lander Splattered Live Organisms Onto Lunar Surface

![Israeli lunar lander Beresheet crashed onto the surface of the Moon on April 11 spilling thousands of dehydrated "water bears" or tardigrades.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/crashed-moon-lander-living-organisms-tardigrades.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Shutterstock/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## Lunar Life

Israeli lunar lander Beresheet [crashed onto the surface](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/beresheet-lunar-lander-crashed>) of the Moon on April 11 — and it may have left more than a pile of wreckage. It was also carrying thousands of tardigrades, small micro-animals often referred to as "water bears."

Why it matters: because, according to *Wired*, tardigrades are the "toughest animal in the known universe" — so resilient that they've been found living on the *exterior* of the International Space Station. In other words, there may now be life on the Moon.

## Dehydration Station

Beresheet's tardigrades probably won't be crawling around on the lunar surface, because scientists dehydrated them first — though they can be revived for [years after the procedure](<http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150313-the-toughest-animals-on-earth>).

As for the harsh climate of the lunar surface, tardigrades [can survive](<https://www.livescience.com/57985-tardigrade-facts.html>) temperatures as low as - 328 degrees Fahrenheit — and don't even have to be dehydrated to do so. Earlier this year, China's Chang'e-4 lunar probe found that the lowest temperature it measured during the night was [- 297 Fahrenheit](<http://www.china.org.cn/china/2019-01/14/content_74369945.htm>).

In other words: though it's not clear how long it might survive, humans may have now accidentally contaminated the Moon with life from Earth.

**READ MORE:** [A Crashed Israeli Lunar Lander Spilled Tardigrades on the Moon](<https://www.wired.com/story/a-crashed-israeli-lunar-lander-spilled-tardigrades-on-the-moon/>) \[*Wired*\]

**More on tardigrades:** *[Water Bears Could One Day Outlive Everything Except the Sun Itself](<https://futurism.com/water-bears-could-one-day-outlive-everything-except-the-sun-itself>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)