Speculative Fact #337: Rebuilding Humans for Space

Humans aren't built for deep space. Multiple studies have shown all the systems in the human body that start to break down after a short time. Exposure to radiation, weakened muscles, bone deterioration.  These are some of the problems that the 100 Year Starship Group tries to solve. 

100 Year Starship Group are researchers, engineers, and business people focused on the technologies they believe will lead to human deep space travel. One of their projects involves "bone micro-encapsulation." They want to make a product, a topical cream, that would accelerate bone and tissue regrowth after an injury. There's a clear need for this in hospitals and on battlefields. But how might this apply to a community of astronauts?  Might the research into making this product a reality reveal the processes involved in bone growth and allow us to modify the human genome (CRISPR- Cas)?  Could we design astronauts from birth?  Would we be creating a subspecies of human being evolved specifically for life in space? What would be the implications of that on those of us left planet side? How would we treat them?

If we take seriously the possibility of human beings leaving Earth, these are some questions that need answers, or at the very least, stories.

​-Rob Cameron