• Question: Is it possible for life to be on the moon?

    Asked by zachemborough to Christine, Edd, Jess, Nicolas, Zara on 14 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Edward Codling

      Edward Codling answered on 13 Jun 2011:

      It is certainly possible that life may have existed on the moon because we have now found that there is water (in the form of ice) there. Life as we know it requires water and hence finding water gives us a much better chance of finding evidence of life there.

      However, even if life did exist on the moon once it is almost certainly no longer there (but evidence – fossils etc) may be. If life did exist there it would only be very simple things like bacteria.

      One theory suggests that all life on Earth actually came from outer space – so we could all be aliens in a certain sense!

    • Photo: Nicolas Biber

      Nicolas Biber answered on 13 Jun 2011:

      The preconditions for life as we know it on the moon are not very good. The moon is to small (too light) to administrate enough gravity to retain an atmosphere like the Earth. The oxygen atmosphere was not necessary for the occurrence of life on Earth, in fact it is likely that all the oxygen we have in the atmosphere now was created by algae in the water. It’s probably also possible to have life without a breathable atmosphere, just with water. But even so without an atmosphere it’s impossible for the moon to keep the temperature at a similar level. So at daytime (13.5 Earth days I think) the temperature is 107°C and at night -153°C (different sources say different temperatures, they probably ARE different). I have heard of micro-organisms that could live at 107°C, but I’m pretty sure they would not survive at -153°C. The moon’s core may have been fluid at a time which could have provided temperatures that would allow organisms to survive under the surface. However, now it is very unlikely that life could be outside a spacesuit on the moon 🙂

    • Photo: Zara Gladman

      Zara Gladman answered on 13 Jun 2011:

      I don’t know very much about this but Edd and Nicolas have already given good answers! Life on the moon would be very difficult – there’s no water or oxygen and the moon doesn’t have an atmosphere the way Earth does. Without an atmosphere, temperatures on the moon would be too hot or too cold to tolerate.

      For now, the only moon-dwelling life forms I know of are in stories and TV shows like this 🙂 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HArUmqqiL0s

    • Photo: Jessica Chu

      Jessica Chu answered on 14 Jun 2011:

      I predict no like the Edd, Nicolas and Zara – very good answers already and not much I can add to.
      Like they have mentioned the Moon does NOT have:
      any atmosphere to speak of
      high enough temperatures
      water
      a magnetic field
      an atmostphere
      no protection from cosmic radiation

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