Imagine when the first interstellar baby was born.

Our scientific and technological level is constantly improving. For planets or some satellites in the solar system, a series of preliminary ideas have been put forward to carry out interstellar migration for several of them. In the past few years, we have talked about and assumed many possibilities, and there are many similar imaginations and pictures in science fiction movies.

But how far has our interstellar journey gone? In the future, when human beings have achieved interstellar migration and started a new life on the planet, new civilizations will emerge and new non-earth humans will be born. At the same time, an interesting question arises-when and under what circumstances will the first interstellar baby be born as the first non-earth humans?

Chris Impey, a professor of astronomy, painted us a possible picture of future interstellar civilization.

For human beings on earth, when the first baby was born, it was a milestone of human civilization, which was even as important as the first step of human ancestors out of Africa. Similarly, in the new era when Astra and immigration activities are comparable to great navigation, the birth of interstellar baby will also mark the beginning of interstellar human civilization.

From the first artificial satellite, the first half century of the human space age was spent in the activities of launching artificial satellites and manned spacecraft into earth orbit in various countries. In recent years, this activity is no longer limited to the national level, and more and more private space companies have entered this field, forming a new industry of 300 billion US dollars.

Of course, today's space activities are all related to the earth, such as launching from the earth, flying around the earth and returning to the earth. But in another 30 years? At that time, "interstellar activities" will really begin-people will begin to live in space, which also means that the first extraterrestrial baby will be born at this time.

The earliest space activity of mankind was the competition between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. In the United States, NASA landed on the moon in 1969, but its budget has tripled since then. The Soviet Union launched its first satellite and put a man into orbit, but now Russia is no longer an economic superpower.

New space powers are constantly emerging, such as lunar exploration, Mars exploration activities, space station construction, and new space programs are proliferating. At the same time, the exciting progress is the vigorous development of private space companies, which have made great contributions to space tourism and entertainment.

Elon musk's space exploration technology company has set ambitious goals, from carrying 65,438+000 people to the moon, to Mars and beyond. Jeff Bezos's company has also put forward a "blue origin" project dedicated to exploring the solar system. These grand plans may not make people fully believe in their future at present, however, they represent the capital and the goals behind this world.

For spacecraft, the distance to Mars is about 1000 times that of the moon, so taking the moon as the first destination far from home is an ideal goal. The current plan is to build a long-term facility at the South Pole of the Moon sometime between 2036 and 2045.

NASA plans to "land on the moon again" in 2024, and establish a permanent settlement called Al themis Base Camp in the next decade. As part of the Artemis mission, NASA also plans to launch a lunar space station called Gateway in 2024, and is currently cooperating with Space Exploration Technologies. Once this lunar space station is completed, it will make it easier for space exploration technology companies to provide intermediate supplies for future interstellar immigrants.

With the cooperation of technology and funds, Space Exploration Technology Corporation and NASA are accelerating the realization of Mars migration, although there is no definite timetable yet. However, the establishment of an immigrant settlement on Mars before 2050-this goal will be the biggest interstellar migration challenge after human migration on the moon.

The most important thing for the earth civilization to truly break away from the earth and realize "interstellar" is to increase the interstellar population, which means that interstellar babies should be born constantly.

However, the early volunteers on the moon or Mars will face a very tense and hard life-the first residents are unlikely to be permanent residents, but will live there for a few years and then return to Earth, so it is unlikely to form an interstellar family.

However, when the subsequent immigrants began to settle on the moon for a long time, normal human life really began, and there were many unknown factors. First of all, what is the process of pregnancy in space or low gravity environment such as the moon or Mars? Will it affect the healthy growth of the fetus? . Second, the initial baby may be very fragile, will the survival rate be very low? In view of these problems, the facilities related to our immigration base must be improved to make normal family life possible, which requires decades of efforts.

At present, a Dutch startup named SpaceLife Origin hopes to send a pregnant woman to an altitude of 400 kilometers as a "test" for childbirth. However, there should be huge obstacles in law, medicine and morality in this activity. Another company named Orbital Assembly plans to open the first luxury hotel "Voyager Space Station" in low earth orbit in 2027, which can accommodate 280 guests and 1 12 crew members and provide artificial gravity. But the difficulty and cost of the project are still unknown.

It is estimated that around 2040, a unique individual category-Star Baby will be born. They will have parents with earth identity, but they may become "interstellar people" without earth nationality. Of course, we should give ta a more wonderful identity-the first citizen of the Milky Way.