We’ve been writing so much about Mars lately that we’ve almost forgotten another familiar friendly face in the sky: the moon. Our constant companion, the subject of poetry, music and entire religions in human history. In 2021, scientists looked up to our dear sister of the solar system and thought, “Man, it could use some sperm.”
Well, jizz and eggs, but eggs aren’t nearly as funny.
This is serious science, so you know that this is basically equal parts going to be great and depressing. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) held its annual Aerospace Conference this weekend. One of the presentations was from the University of Arizona and was entitled: “Moon wells and lava tubes for a modern arkThe presentation makes it clear that we are ready to store a catalog of terrestrial plant seeds on a remote Arctic island. Should not have to our do precious bodily fluids receive similar treatment?
From Vice
[…] The gist of their proposal is that they want to build a sperm bank under the dusty regolith of the lunar surface for safekeeping.
This “insurance policy” for the future of mankind and all species on Earth would be a repository of reproductive cells, including sperm and eggs. They propose that the bank could act like an ark, such as the seed vault in Svalbard now, in case of disaster.
[…]
The University of Arizona team’s plans for a heavenly sperm and egg box include storing the cells in moon pits. The moon is pockmarked with 200 of these wells, which are 80 to 100 meters deep, where lava used to flow on the moon. They can protect against dramatic temperature changes, asteroids or radiation.
See? Sending sperm to the moon is simply ecologically sound. The team wasn’t sure who would get the genetic material from the moon, but I have a somewhat modest proposal.
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The team behind the Modern Ark concept is no slouch either. Jekan Thanga, who presented for the team, leads the Space and Terrestrial Robotic Exploration (SpaceTREx) Laboratory and the NASA-supported ASTEROIDS (Asteroid Science, Technology and Exploration Research Organized by Inclusive eDucation Systems) Laboratory at the University of Arizona. He reminded his audience that they were sending genetic material to the moon is not only funny to the immature bloggers of the world, it can also be vital to biodiversity in the event of a major disaster or just an old climate change.
The whole reason we may have to consider sending human and animal sperm and eggs to the moon is that Earth is becoming an increasingly risky place for life, mainly thanks to us humans. From the video description of the lecture:
It would serve as a global insurance policy. Earth faces the likelihood of danger from various natural disasters and human threats, such as a global nuclear war that could destroy a large number of species in a short period of time. Lunar lava tubes were discovered in 2013 and have probably remained untouched for 3-4 billion years. They are only 4-5 days from Earth. They are an excellent shelter from lunar surface temperature changes, cosmic rays and micrometeorites.
We humans could make the Earth so unlivable that life’s only hope would be to hide in underground tunnels on a sterile moon. See? I knew we could turn something like rock and roll like a blog about jizz on the moon into something depressing. Science!