Thanga Speaks with BBC About Lunar Ark
Tuesday, April 2, 2024
The Lunar Ark would be a backup storage of Earth's biodiversity kept on the moon in case of a mass-extinction event.
![](https://ame.engineering.arizona.edu/sites/ame.engineering.arizona.edu/files/styles/uaqs_fixed_width/public/Jekan%20Thanga.jpeg?itok=Rnq0e2fq)
Jekan Thanga, an associate professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering, looks to prepare Earth's species for long-term survival.
AME associate professor Jekan Thanga spoke with BBC Sky at Night Magazine about the Lunar Ark project — a solar powered ark on the moon's surface that would carry a backup of Earth's biodiversity in case of a mass-extinction event.
In a Q&A with the magazine, Thanga spoke about the project's construction process on the moon, the threat of asteroids and solar storms, and the use of cryopreservation to maintain seeds, eggs and sperm samples.
"We are always thinking about facing a cataclysm rather than avoiding it," Thanga said.
Read the full Q&A with Thanga here.