While I can see value in the “ark” idea described, this BBC article is…bizarre:
Speaking exclusively to BBC News at the British Association Science Festival, Dr Bernard Foing said that the ark should be a repository for the DNA of every single species of plant and animal.
Dandy plan, but…how do we obtain samples from every species on Earth, when we haven’t even identified all of them? The article is thin on detail, including how many individual samples of each species should be included so as to permit its later reconstitution with minimal risk of inbreeding. Given the number of known species on Earth, that’s bound to be a fairly big library.
But hey, if it gets us back to the moon permanently…
The article then veers into strangeness:
Dr Foing is head of Europe’s Moon missions, so his thoughts on matters lunar should be taken seriously.
One could scarcely ask for a better textbook example of “appeal to authority“.
He is concerned that if the Earth were destroyed, there would be little or nothing left of the rich diversity of life on the planet. [emphasis added]
If I were a betting man, I’d put my money on the latter…
“If there were a catastrophic collision on Earth or a nuclear war you could place some samples of Earth’s biosphere, including humans, [on the Moon],” he said.
“You could repopulate the Earth afterwards like a Noah’s Ark,” he said.
First there was the dream, now there is reality. Here in the untainted cradle of the heavens will be created a new super race, a race of perfect physical specimens. You have been selected as its progenitors. Like gods, your offspring will return to Earth and shape it in their image. You have all served in public capacties in my terrestrial empire. Your seed, like yourselves, will pay deference to the ultimate dynasty which I alone have created. From their first day on Earth they will be able to look up and know that there is law and order in the heavens… Oh, sorry…I digress…
For the time being though, Dr Foing is awaiting the arrival of Europe’s first probe to the Moon…
It is the first of what he hopes will be a fleet of of robotic spacecraft sent to the Moon.
They would be used to build a lunar colony
It looks like we have another moon-race on our hands…or we might, once the Europeans actually, you know, launch humans into space.