NASA - Moon: "Noah's Ark" with sperm and eggs from 6.7 million Earth species

Sperm samples and eggs from 6.7 million species on Earth

seek to send scientists to the Moon, creating a modern space "Noah's Ark", which will ensure all the genes that exist on the planet.

The lunar gene bank, which could also hold seed samples, was proposed to be constructed below the lunar surface in a hollow, cold lava tube. The samples to be deposited will be kept at cryogenic temperatures, while the installation will be powered by solar panels on the lunar surface.

The ark could protect the genetic diversity that exists on Earth in the event of a catastrophe, caused either by climate change, by a volcano, or by the impact of an asteroid.

How the idea for biodiversity was started

According to study author and engineer Jekan Thanga of the University of Arizona, the Earth is volatile. 75,000 years ago, there was an eruption of a volcano, which caused the ice age and according to some, had an impact on human diversity. If human civilization, which has such a large footprint, collapses, then there will be significant negative effects on the rest of the planet.

The idea of ​​creating gene banks to ensure biodiversity in the future is not new. More than a million seeds have already been stored at the right temperatures in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault on the Arctic island of Spitsbergen.

Plants on Earth are exposed

However, according to Professor Thanga's team, such installations on Earth are exposed to accidents.

For example, climate change has the potential to lead to the extinction of certain species in the future, and its bank could be lost under the waves as sea levels rise, which will occur when the planet overheats. The moon, according to scientists, seems to be a safer location.

Particularly complex but feasible project

Building a unit on the planet is a very difficult task, but according to scientists it is possible. Carrying about 50 samples for each of the 6.7 million species alone would require 250 rocket launches. To make a comparison, it took 40 launches to assemble the International Space Station.

Scientists are defending their idea and claim that it is not "particularly crazy". The team proposed installing the lunar ark in a lava tube, a tunnel that formed billions of years ago, creating a network of hundreds of tubes about 100 meters in diameter.

How to set up the installation

However, it is most likely to be installed in the Moon's subsoil, where it will be shielded from sunlight, meteorites and temperature.

Scientists suggest accessibility via two or more elevator shafts. In one, the materials will be transferred to the base. The scientists also suggest the use of tiny robots by Professor Thanga's team, and are called SphereX, which will ensure the suitability of the construction.

The main skeleton would be a series of "cold-storage" cylindrical units, in which there would be neat rows of stone, which are shallow cylindrical plates used by biologists and other bioscientists to grow microorganisms, and which would include the sample material.

The seeds, the team claims, need a cooling temperature of -180 degrees Celsius, while the stem cells should be kept at a temperature of -196 degrees Celsius.

The challenges for the construction of the lunar ark

However, setting up an installation at such temperatures also poses problems, as there is a risk of the metal components freezing, blocking or even sticking together. However, the same conditions could help with the quantum lift effect, by creating magnets with the stored items keeping their distance. Scientists insist that their proposal is based on proven laboratory principles of physics.

Scientists have many issues to solve to build the lunar ark. For example, how there will be communication with the Earth and the impact of the low gravity environment on species. According to the team scientists, such projects are transforming the Earth into a more space civilization, where in the not too distant future, humanity will have bases on the Moon and the planet Mars.

The results of the study were presented at the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, at a conference on Aerospace, held online on March 6-13.