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Scientists Plan ‘Doomsday’ Vault on Moon
Climate change is threatening Earth’s biodiversity. Could frozen regions of the moon be the best place to “back up” life-forms?
It sounds like science fiction, and the challenges to executing it are extreme—from how to ensure there is enough genetic diversity in the stored samples to make repopulating the Earth viable, to the lack of ample evidence that regeneration of species from long-term cryopreserved cells is even feasible, to the hefty price tag involved in even beginning to get this off the ground. According to planetary scientists, these remnants of the moon’s molten past would provide a natural source of protection against the many threats posed to astronauts on the surface—shielding them, their equipment, and any samples they may safeguard from dangers like unfiltered radiation from the sun and deep space, as well as meteorites that strike at random and at speeds that exceed 36,000 miles per hour. A spokesperson at Crop Trust, an organization that helps manage the vault alongside the Norwegian government and the Nordic Genetic Resource Center, told Grist that the facility is “secure.” “It operates in an accessible location with modern cooling systems that maintain its temperature at –18 degrees Celsius, which is ideal for seed storage.
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