Seeding the Stars from a Lunar Seed Bank: Ben Haldeman on Expanding Life Beyond Earth
The Long Now Foundation
In this five-minute Ignite talk for the Long Now Foundation, Ben Haldeman argues that humanity may have a role in helping Earth do the one thing it has not yet done: reproduce, by spreading life beyond the planet. He describes how that far-off vision led him to found LifeShip, a project that preserves DNA and cultural records and sends them into space, starting with the Moon.
Earth as an Organism That Has Not Yet Reproduced
Haldeman begins with a metaphor. The Earth, he says, is like an organism. It may even be conscious, and it has done almost everything an organism can do except reproduce. He believes part of humanity's purpose is to help spread the seeds of life to the stars. In his framing, the Earth "grew us" for this purpose: humans are here to be stewards of life in the universe and to help life continue.
He traces the idea to a vision he had in a rainforest, of the Earth reproducing and sending life outward. He calls it a beautiful long-range vision for the future of our species: to ripple life across the galaxy and to be the ones who "green the universe."
Making a Distant Vision Matter Today
Haldeman admits that the vision hooked him, but he is also passionate about Earth now and recognizes that the planet faces real challenges today. He wanted the idea to matter in the present, not only in a distant future.
His bridge between the two is the seed bank. Humans have built seed banks for thousands of years, he notes, because saving life as it is makes sense for our children, grandchildren, seven generations from now, or even 7,000 generations from now. From there he proposed a seed bank of DNA from many different species on Earth, kept for the far future.
His reasoning for where to put it is practical. DNA is tiny, so many copies can be saved. A backup should never be kept in a single location. The Moon, he says, is the next logical place for a copy. It is far enough away to be truly separate, yet close enough that an advanced civilization could potentially retrieve it. He started LifeShip with this dual aim: preserving life for future generations and taking steps toward the long-range goal of spreading life in the universe.
Prototypes, Synthetic Amber, and Public DNA Kits
Haldeman says he believes in taking small steps, so the project began with prototypes. These held plant seeds and DNA from hundreds of species, preserved in a polymer the team calls "synthetic amber polymer." He compares it to the tree amber in Jurassic Park.
LifeShip then created a kit so people could add their own DNA. According to Haldeman, thousands of people have done so. The kits served several purposes: they helped fund the mission, got the project moving, and included humans in the archive.
From the International Space Station to the Moon
Haldeman reports that NASA loved the mission and partnered with LifeShip. Two of the capsules went to the International Space Station on SpaceX rockets, and astronauts carried them aboard on crewed missions.
The next step, he says, is a mission to the Moon "in October this year." The lander is made by Firefly Aerospace and will launch on a SpaceX rocket. It is designed to reach the Moon and remain there, and LifeShip's capsule will stay aboard it permanently.
Going Beyond DNA's Lifespan: Ceramic Genomes and a Message from Humanity
Haldeman acknowledges a limit: DNA can last perhaps only tens of thousands of years. Because the team wanted the archive to last longer, they nano-etched the full human genome into ceramic, working with a partner (named in the transcript as "Coby").
They also wanted a cultural archive and a message from humanity. So they etched thousands of pages of text and information about Earth, humanity, and the human story into nickel nanofiche, which can be read with a microscope.
Local artist Amy Carl created the cover art, which shows that the capsule comes from humanity. It also includes the Milky Way galaxy and a map to pulsars showing where the capsule came from. Haldeman notes that this pulsar map works as both a location and a timestamp: it tells a finder when the capsule was made as well as where.
A Platform for Partners
Haldeman says the project has become a platform. Partners add art collections from children around the world, stories, podcasts, and material from museums, and LifeShip works with various groups to include their contributions.
Long-Term Vision as a Question About the Present
Haldeman closes by linking the galactic vision back to Earth. He believes that imagining a long-range future in which humanity ripples life across the galaxy can shape who we are today and our next steps as a species. Taking on the role of continuing "this precious miracle of life," he suggests, means thinking about who we choose to be now. For him, that means how we care for Earth today and for all the precious species living on it.
He ends with an invitation: audience members can add their DNA, stories, wishes, and dreams, or build whole programs through the platform to engage others in space. His goal is to imagine an inspiring future for both Earth and humanity in the universe.
The Earth is like an organism. It may even be conscious, and it's done just about everything an organism can do except for reproduce. I believe that part of humanity's purpose here is to help spread the seeds of life to the stars, and that the Earth grew us with this purpose, that we're here to be stewards of life in the universe and to help continue life.
I had this vision in the rainforest of the Earth reproducing and spreading life outwards, and I believe this is a beautiful long-range vision for the future of our species: to ripple life across the galaxy and to be the ones that green the universe and help continue life.
Now, this vision hooked me, but I'm passionate about Earth here today, and we have real challenges on Earth today. So I wanted to figure out how to make this actually matter here today. And humans have built seed banks for thousands of years. We know that it makes sense to save life as it is for our kids, for our grandkids, for seven generations, for 7,000 generations from now.
And so I came up with the vision of: let's save a seed bank of the DNA of all different species from Earth for the far future from now. And DNA is tiny, so we can save copies of it. And if you're going to save a backup of something, you never want to save all copies in one spot. So the Moon is the next logical place to save a copy. It's far enough away to be separate and close enough to potentially get by an advanced civilization.
So I started LifeShip with this vision, both to preserve life for future generations as well as take steps towards this long-range vision of spreading life in the universe and continuing life.
Started with prototypes. I believe in taking small steps. This is both plant seeds and then DNA of hundreds of species preserved in a polymer that we call synthetic amber polymer, kind of like tree amber in Jurassic Park. And then created a kit for people to add their DNA, and thousands of people have added their DNA so far. And this helped us fund the mission and get us going and helped include humans in it.
NASA loved the mission. We partnered with NASA and got to send two of these up to the International Space Station, and these went up on SpaceX rockets, and astronauts carried them on board up on crewed missions.
And then in October this year, we're on a mission to the Moon. And this is a lander made by Firefly Aerospace, and it'll launch on a SpaceX rocket, and the lander goes to the Moon, stays on the Moon, and our capsule stays on board it, and it'll stay there forever.
Now, DNA can only last perhaps tens of thousands of years. We wanted it to last longer, so we etched the full human genome into ceramic and nano-etched it with our partners with Coby. And then we also wanted to include a cultural archive and a message from humanity, and so we etched thousands of pages of information and text about Earth and humanity and our story in nickel nanofiche, viewable in a microscope.
We worked with a local artist, Amy Carl, to do the cover art, to show who this is from, humanity, and then the Milky Way galaxy and a map to pulsars of where this came from. So that's both a map and a time; it tells you the time.
And then this really has become a platform where we have all sorts of partners that are adding art collections from kids around the world, or stories, or podcasts, or museums, and so we work with groups.
And I really believe that a long-range future of humanity rippling life across the galaxy can help who we are today and our next steps as our species, and really us being stewards of life in the universe. We're taking on this role of continuing this precious miracle of life.
And really thinking long term about who we are as a species and where we're going really is about who do we choose to be today, and how do we care for Earth today, and how do we care for all the precious species on Earth today.
And so I invite you to join. You're welcome to add your DNA, your stories, your wishes, your dreams, to create a whole program and engage others in space through our platform. And let's dream an inspiring future for both Earth and humanity in the universe.
[Applause] [Music]
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