Israel’s first privately funded mission to the moon, Beresheet lunar lander took off on February 22 and attempted landing on the lunar surface on April 11. Sadly, the mission was a failure. The spacecraft instead crashed down after reportedly a gyroscope failed during the braking process. But the aim did not fail wholly. Arch Mission Foundation has reportedly sent its first lunar library, along with a DVD-sized archive, human DNA samples and thousands of tardigrades along with the spacecraft. It appears that the crash could not destroy any of it and future Lunar missions can probably see the tiny “water bears” on the moon. How Will India's Chandrayaan-2 Identify Presence of Water Below Surface of Moon? ISRO Explains With This Video. 

When Israelis were informed that Baresheet had been destroyed, the mission’s scientists were in a dilemma if the crash had killed the toughest animal known to the universe. The microscopic water bears can survive pretty much any surroundings, including space. This is the reason, thousands of dehydrated Tardigrades were a part of the foundation’s “lunar library.” Nova Spivack, Arch Mission’s founder, believes that the tardigrades have survived the crash. “For the first 24 hours we were just in shock,” Spivack was quoted in media reports. “We sort of expected that it would be successful. We knew there were risks but we didn't think the risks were that significant,” he added.

He further told,  that after studying the spacecraft’s fatal crash and the composition of the lunar library, the founder is confident that the DVD, DNA samples and the little tardigrades have survived. “Ironically, our payload may be the only surviving thing from that mission,” he said. The Arch Mission is now planning its next lunar mission and will be inviting people for DNA samples as part of its crowdfunding campaign. Meanwhile, India’s second moon mission, Chandrayaan 2 is already on its way and it seems that the spacecraft might be welcomed by the water bears.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 06, 2019 08:54 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).