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  • BBC Science Focus Magazine

    Microscopic water bears could be the first interstellar space travellers

    Feb 16, 2022 4 minutes
    STEPHEN LANTIN

    NASA space technology graduate researcher

    In 2019, a spacecraft containing strange, microscopic organisms crash-landed on the Moon. Israel’s Beresheet Lunar Lander was the first non-governmental craft to attempt a landing on the lunar surface. It carried a collection of items, including a digital copy of Wikipedia, human DNA samples, an Israeli flag, and thousands of tiny animals called tardigrades. We can’t say for sure if any of the so-called ‘water bears’ survived the crash, but if they did, they are the only Earthlings to have spent years away from their home planet.

    ISRAEL SENT TARDIGRADES TO THE MOON, AND NOW YOUR RESEARCH TEAM HAS DRAWN UP PLANS TO SEND MORE ORGANISMS INTO SPACE. HOW

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