A team of researchers from the University of Arizona in the United States has suggested building a sperm bank beneath the lunar surface, the announcement was made at the annual Aerospace conference of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
The scientists propose that the project will function as the “vault of the apocalypse”, the world’s largest repository of seeds, with the mission of protecting the different species of the planet against wars or natural disasters that could completely destroy food crops.
This “insurance policy” for the future of humanity and all species on Earth would be a repository of reproductive cells, including sperm and eggs.
The plan is to deposit the sperm and eggs in lunar wells, which are 80 to 100 meters deep. This way they can protect them from drastic changes in temperature, asteroids, and radiation.
The research team has theorized some of the mass extinction scenarios that justify advancing this idea, namely: volcanic eruptions, nuclear warfare, asteroid impact, global epidemics, climate change, solar storms, and drought.
“We can still save them (sperm and eggs) until technology advances to then reintroduce these species-in other words, save them for another day,” said the study’s lead author, Jekan Thanga.
To get the capsules to the bottom of the lunar wells, the researchers suggested developing robots that move using quantum levitation.
