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A lunar lander transporting a library of information from around the world crashed on the moon, though those behind the project believe the lander’s payload – which included thousands of practically indestructible creatures – survived.

Nova Spivack, co-founder and chairman of the nonprofit Arch Mission Foundation, said the organization worked with Israel-based SpaceIL to send a craft called Beresheet, which means “in the beginning” in Hebrew, to the moon with enough information to “back up Earth.” 

“Inside was a lunar library consisting of 30 million pages of human knowledge,” Spivack said. “Including Wikipedia, 30,000 books, a key to 5,000 languages, David Copperfield’s magic secrets and many other things. This was all etched in nickel as tiny little images that you could see with a microscope.” 

He said about 60,000 pages could be seen without needing a computer. Beresheet’s payload was an object the size of a DVD. It contained human DNA from 25 people. There were more than 100 cells containing DNA, which, according to Spivack, is enough to “regenerate the human race.”

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There was also a small piece of art included to honor fallen astronauts. 

“Our calculations and analysis indicate that the crash would not have destroyed our payload,” Spivack said. “It’s designed to be stronger than an airplane black box. It was not destroyed. It is on the moon somewhere.”

Also included in the lander’s payload were 10,000 tardigrades. The tiny, nigh-indestructible creatures, also known as “water bears,” are capable of surviving just about anything, including the vacuum of space. Spivack said they could possibly be recovered some day, but right now, they’re in a state of suspended animation, since the moon doesn’t have an atmosphere. 

“If they are recovered and removed and brought to a place with an atmosphere, they could be rehydrated and brought back to life. In the DNA of these tardigrades, we’ve actually modified the DNA to include the coordinates of the Global Seed Vault in Norway.”

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He added, “We cannot guarantee that all these tardigrades – or even any of these tardigrades – survived. We believe that some of them did. Of course, the only way to know for sure would be to go back to the moon, find our disk, get a sample and analyze it.” 

That’s the opposite of what Spivack wants. Recovering any part of Beresheet’s payload so soon after its crash in April would defeat the purpose of the mission. 

“We’re building a backup of the planet,” Spivack said. 

Such backups are planned for around the solar system, intended as a guarantee that civilization will never be lost. So, “it’s possible that in the distant future, the tardigrades could be brought back to life.”

Some believe tardigrades came to earth on meteorites or comets and may be the origin of life on earth, Spivack said.

Spivack said other pieces of data included, “a piece leaf from the Bodhi Tree in India and some little bits of earth from other holy sites around the world, mixed together as a little monument to world peace.”

The payload was wrapped in layers of protective material to insulate it from heat and protect it from radiation and other threats.

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Despite the crash, Spivack said the mission was a success. Even the day of the crash related to what Spivack wanted to do — Beresheet crashed on April 11. “4-1-1” is common slang for information. 

“From our perspective, depositing that on the moon – whether intact or in fragments – is fine,” he said. “It’s recoverable. The knowledge is there. The DNA is there. It’s recoverable. This is really the first in a series of these missions.” 

One of the Arch Mission Foundation’s lunar libraries is in the glove compartment of the Tesla that Elon Musk has orbiting around the sun. 

Next up is the “Lunar Library 2.0.” This autumn, the Arch Foundation will announce a Kickstarter where people can join the project – and have their own DNA sent to the moon. The next lunar library will include DNA from Earth’s endangered species. 

Eventually, Spivack hopes to send information to Mars. 

“This is my mission,” Spivack said. “It started when I was a child and I had a dream about the future in which there would be an environmental challenge to the survival of our species. In that dream, we built a backup of all knowledge. I was about 8 when I had that dream and that stayed with me.” 

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