Will we radically alter the human condition to explore space?
In 1960, Manfred Clynes and Nathan Kline introduced the term "cyborg" in their article "Cyborgs and Space," where they proposed that modifying human physiology to endure extraterrestrial environments might be more practical than recreating Earth's conditions in space. The concept of terraforming had already been around for some time, but as our technologies have grown so has the potential that we could re-engineer the human form itself to make space exploration more efficient.
Of course, there are ethical questions that come up when we consider potentially changing what it means to be human, but right now seems like as good a time as any to ask: should we alter future humans to create people or other beings who are better able to explore space and settle on other worlds?
Human physiology is finely tuned to Earth's environment—we have a multi-billion year lineage of cosmological and biological evolution behind us. From the earliest flutterings of life on Earth to today, every creature here is connected to a past where evolution has worked its gears so that life is adapted to the various niches and ecosystems that are available. We truly are not built to survive in the environments of other worlds or in the environment of space. That’s why we need space stations and spacesuits and have to imagine near-term explorers on Mars or other worlds using various designed environments to survive.
In the apparent weightlessness of space, astronauts experience muscle atrophy and bone density loss. A new study explores the impact of long durations in space on astronaut eye health. Exposure to cosmic radiation increases cancer risks and may have longer term effects on future astronauts traveling beyond Earth’s magnetic field. Psychological challenges arise from isolation and confinement during prolonged missions. Current countermeasures, such as exercise regimens and shielding, offer limited protection. So might it make sense to engineer future humans to be able to better live in space or on other worlds?
Advancements in genetic engineering present opportunities to develop humans better suited for space. For instance, introducing genes that enhance DNA repair mechanisms could mitigate radiation damage. Altering genes associated with bone density might prevent osteoporosis in microgravity, or we could find a way to enhance human eyes so that they won’t be impacted so much by apparent weightlessness. These interventions raise ethical questions about genetic modification and the potential emergence of distinct human variants or species (of course). Kind of a good time to reconsider Ian Malcolm’s quote in Jurassic Park: “Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, that they didn't stop to think if they should.”
Let’s just assume here for the sake of this consideration that we’ve overcome the ethical questions and have decided to alter future humans for space exploration.
Beyond genetic modifications that seem within our grasp already, there could be a whole range of biological alterations that could come about that might make some subset of future humans better suited to space exploration. And even beyond that, integrating technological enhancements to make real cyborgs could augment human capabilities in space. Exoskeletons could assist with mobility and counteract muscle degeneration, but perhaps we’d also choose to engineer new skeletal structures (like making a Wolverine adamantium weave to go over our regular bones). We might develop implantable devices to monitor health metrics, to treat radiation exposure, or to boost the body’s immune system. While we probably won’t make a human form that can survive in space without a spacesuit, we might build humans who practically are living within spacesuits as their own bodies. Maybe for future Mars exploration, we’d engineer the first Martians such that their bodies have biological and technological “upgrades” to allow them to breathe the Martian atmosphere and to walk around on the Red Planet relatively unhindered by bulky gear.
Deploying humanoid robots presents an alternative to human adaptation. These robots can perform tasks in environments too extreme for humans, reducing risk and resource expenditure. Of course, that doesn’t sound like as much fun for us. Many of us want to see the surface of the Moon, look back on Earth from afar, or see sunsets on Mars with our own eyes. We want a human connection to space exploration. But it might be possible that our future humanoid robots will themselves be a vestige of what it means to be human. Brain-computer interfaces are in development and will soon be changing so much about how we interact with our technological marvels. While the concept of uploading our consciousness to a machine is questionable, we should still consider that there might be a real future ahead where humanoid robots don’t just look like us but really are us. Maybe the first “human” explorers on Mars or looking back as their spacecraft travels away from our solar system won’t be doing so with any remnant of the old human biological form.
The prospect of engineering humans or creating human-like entities for space exploration necessitates careful ethical deliberation (and would tuck nicely into a larger conversation around ethics involved in gene editing, technological enhancements, and the future of human civilization). Questions arise about identity, the essence of humanity, and the rights of modified beings or autonomous robots. Not to mention the question of what might happen to un-enhanced people in a future where enhancement in such ways is possible (much like in the film Gattaca).
As Carl Sagan once spoke of our history of curiosity and wonder connected with our future in space exploration:
Exploration is in our nature. We began as wanderers, and we are wanderers still. We have lingered long enough on the shores of the cosmic ocean. We are ready at last to set sail for the stars.
The Space Age is only just beginning.
This year marks 68 years since the first object sent into space (Sputnik 1 in 1957), 64 years since the first human traveled into space (Yuri Garain in 1961), and 56 years since the first human walked on the Moon (Neil Armstrong in 1969). Over half of the world’s current population have been alive during all of those events. Certainly, we have so much more ahead (assuming that we don’t destroy ourselves or manage somehow to actually create the Zombie Apocalypse).
While it seems like we’re still barely able to figure out how to get back to the Moon and some of us who’ve dreamed of getting humans to Mars keep having to wonder why it’s taking so darned long, it also seems likely that the coming century will see humans, in some form, finally stepping out beyond the local environment of the Earth to explore other worlds, here and afar. Along the way, we might find ourselves faced with real questions about what it means to be human.
The first explorers from our world to truly travel out to the stars may end up looking far, far different than anything we’ve ever considered before.
This piece comes from a rewrite of a previous idea I’d shared on A Cosmobiologist’s Dream in September of 2010. It’s fun to come back to the idea 15 years later.
As always, I’m super thankful to all of you who are reading along here on The Cosmobiologist. Please share your thoughts in the comments or reach out via my contact form.