Researchers Save Seeds Of Living Creatures On The Moon To Prevent Extinction

Researchers want to build a giant tube under the surface of the Moon (illustration: Nasa Gov)

JAKARTA - Researchers are concerned about the extinction of the earth's population due to disasters and viruses that hit the Earth. In March 2021, researchers submitted a proposal to procure the "Lunar Ark" by providing samples from the 6.7 million Earth species that have been frozen.

The naming of the Lunar Ark (ark of the moon) is taken from the Bible story which tells of Noah's Ark. The Lunar Ark project will be placed beneath the lunar surface. This ark will accommodate the seeds, sperm, and spores that have been preserved from a wide variety of species on Earth.

The proposal was revealed at an IEEE Aerospace Conference (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineer). The researchers call the proposal a “modern global insurance policy” because it seeks to save the survival of Earth's species.

Ark of this kind is not the only ark designed to save Earth's species. Previously, there was already a storage area called the Svalbard Global Seed Vault which was located in Norway.

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault stores as many as 4.5 million seed samples, and in 2019 it only accommodates less than 1 million seed samples. Some parties are concerned about climate change that could affect the storage of these seeds. They argue that the stored seeds will not be safe forever.

The researchers plan to make a giant lava tube that will be immersed in the surface of the moon as a storage place for seeds and can function as a research site. This giant Lava Tube could also be a major base for future lunar explorations.

To realize this plan, it will take at least 250 rocket launches to the moon to build a facility there and carry samples from 6.7 million species. From all the seeds of that species, 50 samples from each species will be represented.

"The seeds must be cooled to minus 180 C and the stem cells stored at a temperature of minus 196 C", wrote the report as quoted by Slashgear.