It is not a surprise that smaller creatures are better able to survive in space, but knowing the first travelers may be tiny organisms raises a lot of ethical questions.
In a new university press release, UC Santa Barbara professors Philip Lubin and Joel Rothman said that it may be possible to send small roundworms or even tardigrades to nearby star systems on small, wafer-sized spaceships.
"I think it's our destiny to keep exploring," he said. Look at the history of the human race. We explore at smaller and larger levels. The core of who we are as a species lies in the drive toward ceaseless exploration.
The near-indestructibility of tardigrades makes them a great candidate because of their ability to survive extreme cold, the vacuum of space, and even being shot out of a gun.
Life Off-World.
There are some problems with shipping water bears. Even tardigrades aren't perfect. It is not clear how long they can survive in space, and it would take a long time to reach another planet.
The ethical question of whether humans have the right to introduce life to new places is one that the UC Santa Barbara researchers concede.
Lubin said there are ethics. If you started talking about directed propagation of life, which is sometimes called panspermia, the idea that life came from elsewhere and ended up on the earth by comets and other debris, or even intentionally from another civilization, I think that would be a different idea.
That doesn't include the wellbeing of the tardigrades themselves. It may sound silly to worry about whether a small animal can think or feel, but before we launch them into space, it is worth pondering.
There are live organs on the lunar surface.
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