On July 21, 1969, when man first set foot on the Moon , he found no inhabitant there to welcome them. Despite this, on some occasions it has been believed that there was life on our satellite, but until now we only know that there is life on our planet and we find it in the vast majority of our geography, no matter how extreme its environmental conditions are.
Organisms need water and the ability to use substances such as carbon, nitrogen or oxygen. On the Moon, life could not meet these needs. The satellite is also exposed to many radiations that are lethal to most terrestrial organisms, such as ultraviolet radiation, and its surface temperature is much more extreme than that of the Earth; during the lunar day it exceeds 123 degrees centigrade, while at night it drops to about 233 degrees below zero.
The samples they brought back from the Apollo 11 mission
When NASA sent the first astronauts to the Moon, scientists couldn’t rule out the possibility that our nearest neighbor might contain life. After their stay of 21 hours and 36 minutes in the Sea of Tranquility, the astronauts of the Apollo 11 mission returned to Earth with 22 kilos of rocks and other materials from the lunar soil (regolith), a priceless treasure for the community scientific.
Researchers at NASA Ames Research Center and the Johnson Space Center in Houston have been examining such samples since 1969 that astronauts brought back from the Apollo 11 mission.
The researchers were looking for signs of life endemic to the Moon , as well as organic compounds that are the building blocks of life. Of course, no lunar life was found in these samples , and we now know that the Moon harbors no life. However, these tests became the first time NASA had retrieved samples from another world to search for life on that world.
In these experiments, the researchers tried to encourage the growth of any potential organisms in the lunar samples, providing nutrients and testing in a variety of more than 300 conditions that might be suitable for reproduction. Microscopes were used periodically to inspect growth. After several months of testing, no life was detected, and the Moon’s uninhabitability has been theorized ever since.
Life maybe yes, but long ago
In 2018, an article published in Astrobiology put on the table the possibility that there was life on the Moon, but many years ago. Although the title of this post was something as enigmatic as “Was There an Early Habitability Window for Earth’s Moon?”, its associated press release got a bit more clickbait with an even more exciting title: ” Researchers see possibility of lunar life .”
full moon
Studies by Dirk Schulze-Makuch, an astrobiologist at Washington State University, and Ian Crawford, a professor of planetary science and astrobiology at the University of London, said conditions on the lunar surface were sufficient to support simple life forms shortly after that the Moon formed from a disk of debris 4 billion years ago and again during a peak in lunar volcanic activity about 3.5 billion years ago.
During both periods, planetary scientists believe that the Moon spewed large amounts of superheated, volatile gases, including water vapor, from its interior.
The Great Moon Hoax
With the scientific advances since the Moon was stepped on for the first time, we do not find widespread belief that there really is life, beyond some conspiracy group. However, in the past it was much more complex to contrast certain information about a Selenite civilization .
Perhaps the most infamous of the cases in which life was believed to exist on the Moon comes from what is known as ” The Great Moon Hoax “. On August 25, 1835, the first of a series of six articles announcing the alleged discovery of life on the Moon appeared in The New York Sun.
Illustration of what is known as The Great Moon Hoax, 1835.
The articles were purportedly reprinted from the Edinburgh Journal of Science. The author was the alleged Dr. Andrew Grant , described as a colleague of Sir John Herschel, a famous astronomer of the day. In fact, Herschel had traveled to Cape Town, South Africa, in January 1834 to set up an observatory with a powerful new telescope.
As Grant described it, Herschel had found evidence of life forms on the Moon, including fantastical animals such as unicorns, two-legged beavers, and furry, winged humanoids resembling bats. The articles also offered a vivid description of the Moon’s geography, complete with massive craters, huge amethyst crystals, rushing rivers, and lush vegetation.
The Edinburgh Journal of Science had ceased publication years before and Grant was a fictional character, but readers were completely captivated by the story and did not recognize it as satire. Finally, on September 16, 1835, the NY Sun admitted that the articles had been a hoax.
lunar tardigrades
This microscopic species reached the Moon when Israel’s Beresheet probe was forced to make a forced landing in April 2019. The ship, which would be the first private lunar module to land on our satellite, was loaded with a series of microorganisms called tardigrades. These animals, commonly known as “water bears”, are the most resistant being known on Earth , even more resistant than cockroaches.
Tardigrade or water bear (Photo: Eye of Science/Science Photo Library)
Not by chance, these organisms were sent into space in 2007 aboard ESA’s ‘Foton-M3’ spacecraft. Although they were exposed to ultraviolet radiation a thousand times more intense than those recorded on Earth, on their return they came back to life, since, when submerged in water, they metabolize again, and were even able to reproduce.
The closest thing to finding life on the Moon would be those dormant tardigrades waiting for a good soak. They are the only living beings capable of surviving extreme drought and remaining dormant. They easily withstand temperatures ranging from 200 degrees below zero to more than 150, well above the boiling point of water.