The Moon To Be Used As Humanity's "Toolkit" To Rebuild Race.

[Dreaming Of Pandora]

“Eventually, it will be necessary to have a kind of Noah’s ark there, a diversity of species from the biosphere." - Bernard Foing, Chief Scientist/Research, European Space Agency.

If the human species should be destroyed on Earth, our future may reside on the Moon if plans being drawn up for a “Doomsday ark” on the moon by the European Space Agency are carried through. The Ark will contain the essentials of life and human civilization, to be activated in the event of earth being devastated by a giant asteroid or nuclear war.

The construction of a lunar information bank, discussed at a conference in Strasbourg last month, would provide survivors on Earth with a remote-access toolkit to rebuild the human race.

A basic version of the ark would contain hard discs holding information such as DNA sequences and instructions for metal smelting or planting crops. It would be buried in a vault just under the lunar surface and transmitters would send the data to heavily protected receivers on earth. if no receivers survived, the ark would continue transmitting the information until new ones could be built.

As a first step to discovering whether living organisms could survive, European Space Agency scientists are hoping to experiment with growing tulips on the moon within the next decade.

The first flowers – tulips or arabidopsis, a plant widely used in research – could be grown in 2012 or 2015 according to Bernard Foing, chief scientist at the agency’s research department.

Tulips are ideal because they can be frozen, transported long distances and grown with little nourishment. Combined with algae, an enclosed artificial atmosphere and chemically enhanced lunar soil, they could form the basis of an ecosystem.

The first experiments would be carried out in transparent biospheres containing a mix of gases to mimic the earth’s atmosphere. Carbon dioxide given off by the decomposing plants would be mopped up by the algae, which would generate oxygen through photosynthesis.

The databank would initially be run by robots and linked to earth by radio transmissions. Scientists hope to put a manned station on the moon before the end of the century.

The databank would need to be buried under rock to protect it from the extreme temperatures, radiation and vacuum on the moon. It would be run partly on solar power. The scientists envisage placing the first experimental databank on the moon no later than 2020 and it could have a lifespan of 30 years. The full archive would be launched by 2035.

The information would be held in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish and would be linked by transmitter to 4,000 “Earth repositories” that would provide shelter, food, a water supply for survivors.

Extract of Daily Galaxy Blog

Anyone think this would make a great movie?

On a serious note, I think it's good that we're preparing now rather than later because the future might be less bright than we hope for.

[Migg3006]

I don't know for a movie, but it make me think of Fallout,
Btw very interesting post there, thanks to share.

You look like to be interested by physic work, are you?

Have you new Hubble update???

[Dreaming Of Pandora]

Originally Posted by Migg3006

Have you new Hubble update???

Ah double post!

I've got three new vids uploaded in the last month. You'll have to wait until ESA give me their newest release before another Hubble Update is uploaded. Expect another vid in a couple of weeks, or even days!

[Patrice Maire]

There's a problem with that plan.
IF an asteroid is big enough to devastate the earth, it could very well do a number on the moon as well.
If everyone is dead on the planet.... who's going to find the buried treasure on the moon? Aliens?
I think they're thinking too far ahead, and not in the right direction. We need to put a colony or station on the moon first, then start thinking about setting up an 'ark' to store things up there. We're talking at least fifty or more years into the future. IF we're lucky and major countries don't decide to self implode from budget crises.
There are a lot more issues in the present that need our help rather than making sure we survive our own stupidity or an accident of the universe.
Titan A.E. anyone?

[Dreaming Of Pandora]

Originally Posted by Patrice Maire

There's a problem with that plan.
IF an asteroid is big enough to devastate the earth, it could very well do a number on the moon as well.

The moon has been hit by asteroids with diameters of over 10 km, far larger than any hit on Earth (a 6km asteroid took out the dinosaurs). The moon is tough and since the moon is gravitational locked with the Earth (one side always faces the Earth) you can put the info on the side that faces the Earth and it probably will never be hit.

If everyone is dead on the planet.... who's going to find the buried treasure on the moon? Aliens?

We can detect asteroids centuries in advance. Discovering an asteroid that is 10 years away would be catching us off gaurd. A decade is plenty time to launch a couple of humans to the moon as long as there's enough resources of the moon to sustain life temporarily.

I think they're thinking too far ahead, and not in the right direction. We need to put a colony or station on the moon first, then start thinking about setting up an 'ark' to store things up there. We're talking at least fifty or more years into the future. IF we're lucky and major countries don't decide to self implode from budget crises.

It's estimated that if we were to start building an outpost on the moon now, it'd be 2100(+) before it would be a fully functional station capable of supporting a human civilisation. Yes there needs to be a station there too but the 'ark' should be the first step of the plan as there's no point spending trillions of dollars on a station that will be useless if a catastrophie breaks out before it's built.

There are a lot more issues in the present that need our help rather than making sure we survive our own stupidity or an accident of the universe.

That's true but equally I want at least a possibility that the human race's continuity can be assured. Hopefully future generations will learn from this one's.

Titan A.E. anyone?

Love that movie!!

[Migg3006]

Good I will wait for it, can you send me a VM when it will be ready?

[rasomaso]

So how are they gonna deal with less gravity? People living there would need to be exercising for sure, but animals and plants? I can only think of this huge moon weed they could grow there hahaha

[Dreaming Of Pandora]

Originally Posted by rasomaso

So how are they gonna deal with less gravity? People living there would need to be exercising for sure, but animals and plants? I can only think of this huge moon weed they could grow there hahaha

Hahahahaha gigantism in weed (a stoner's delight jk).

Serious answer *sincere face*: They wouldn't try to create an ecosystem on the Moon. Im guessing if it's nuclear winter that has ravaged the Earth then humans would try to survive on the moon for as long as the Earth is inhabitable, then, with their hard drives of info on how to rebuild, return to Earth and start over.

Plants actually survive well in even Zero G, they just need a tiny bit of help.

[Human No More]

Win

Reduced gravity has less of an effect on plants overall.

The biggest problem though is no atmosphere... the moon has next to no atmosphere at all, there is no CO2 for the plants, or nitrogen which is important for soil fertility.

[Tsyal Makto]

Interesting concept, but I sort of have my reservations on it. If the Earth is ravaged to such a point where we would need to get the information on the ark, who is to say that enough technology would survive to actually put the information to use? If anything we need to be working on putting an actual, habitable ark on the moon, not just an information vault.

And 2100 for a moon colony? Are you freakin' kidding me? That's bulls***! We had the ability to get there 40+ years ago, yet we still don't have the technology to go back? WTF?!

[Dreaming Of Pandora]

Originally Posted by Tsyal Makto

Interesting concept, but I sort of have my reservations on it. If the Earth is ravaged to such a point where we would need to get the information on the ark, who is to say that enough technology would survive to actually put the information to use? If anything we need to be working on putting an actual, habitable ark on the moon, not just an information vault.

I'm sure the info vault is just a first step, making a station there would come second (possibly during the construction of the 'ark').

And 2100 for a moon colony? Are you freakin' kidding me? That's bulls***! We had the ability to get there 40+ years ago, yet we still don't have the technology to go back? WTF?!

Funny enough, 2100 is actually a conservative estimate but then again, this is for a fully functional civilisation on the Moon. It's estimated that it'd be at least 2050 before a station on the Moon becomes self-sufficient without the need of constant supply modules being sent to the Moon.

If any of you are curious about an outpost on the moon, there's a very interesting documentary about it: Living On The Moon

[rasomaso]

heh I just saw the document and, well it seems like we'll be doing the same thing there - harvesting the materials until they are gone completely.

[Dreaming Of Pandora]

Yup but it's not like people on the Moon have options. Regolith makes oxygen and water, two vital components for survival on the Moon and there's enough of it last centuries. I disagree with using up Earth's resources but for the Moon you simply don't have that option to go green.

[Human No More]

Yeah, there are plenty of resources on the moon for a base there, primarily oxygen, but the main problem is getting everything there so that it's in a position so start using them. One of the main problems is surviving the lunar daytimes where it can reach 115 degrees or so.

[Dreaming Of Pandora]

Yeah scientists were thinking of putting a base on one of the poles, because it's primarily daytime there all the time. They're also planning on building huge solar panels there so it could always supply the Earth and the moon base with electricity.