13 Amazing Reasons Why Tardigrades Are Super Animals

BinaryQuill Updated: 2025-07-11

In April 2019, thousands of dehydrated tardigrades, human DNA samples and other cargo were sent to the moon. But the capsule crashed and the developers of the project are convinced that these tiny organisms could be the only survivors of the mission.
Tardigrades, also often called "water bears", are microscopic creatures that can survive in almost any environment. Scientists have managed to bring tardigrades back to life after 30 years of being frozen. As extremophiles, tardigrades switch off their metabolism and thus survive for long periods in extreme environments.
Tardigrades can withstand pressure equivalent to that of an asteroid impact on Earth. An emergency landing like on the moon is therefore no problem for them. These creatures are theoretically capable of living on the moon for decades. Fascinating, right?