Achieving immortality in space?
Posted by Courtney E. Howard
It's official. I have seen it all: men in space, monkeys in space, and now...DNA in space. Operation Immortality, a project to create a digital time capsule of the human race, is sending the digital DNA of renowned author and game designer Tracy Hickman. Hickman is perhaps best known (among "propeller heads" and D&D fanatics) for his work on the Dragonlance novels and the Ravenloft module of the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons game system. Operation Immortality’s mission is to preserve the most talented and influential people of our time, and so is sending Tracy Hickman's digitized DNA into space with video gaming luminary Richard Garriott as he travels to the International Space Station (ISS) on Oct. 12, 2008.
Hickman will not only be adding his digitized DNA to the "Immortality Drive," excerpts of his writings will also be included on the storage device Garriott will store on the ISS as part of Operation Immortality. The Immortality Drive is being loaded with information from people all over the world at the OperationImmortality.com Web site.
Visitors to the Web site can submit their suggestions for humanity's greatest achievements, leave their immortalized message for future generations, and may even have their DNA selected to join Garriott and other luminaries on an out-of-this-world trip to possibly become the future of mankind.
What do you think? Who would you nominate for "preservation"? Should your DNA be in space?Maybe there's someone you just want to see launched into space. Hmm...
It's official. I have seen it all: men in space, monkeys in space, and now...DNA in space. Operation Immortality, a project to create a digital time capsule of the human race, is sending the digital DNA of renowned author and game designer Tracy Hickman. Hickman is perhaps best known (among "propeller heads" and D&D fanatics) for his work on the Dragonlance novels and the Ravenloft module of the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons game system. Operation Immortality’s mission is to preserve the most talented and influential people of our time, and so is sending Tracy Hickman's digitized DNA into space with video gaming luminary Richard Garriott as he travels to the International Space Station (ISS) on Oct. 12, 2008.
Hickman will not only be adding his digitized DNA to the "Immortality Drive," excerpts of his writings will also be included on the storage device Garriott will store on the ISS as part of Operation Immortality. The Immortality Drive is being loaded with information from people all over the world at the OperationImmortality.com Web site.
Visitors to the Web site can submit their suggestions for humanity's greatest achievements, leave their immortalized message for future generations, and may even have their DNA selected to join Garriott and other luminaries on an out-of-this-world trip to possibly become the future of mankind.
What do you think? Who would you nominate for "preservation"? Should your DNA be in space?Maybe there's someone you just want to see launched into space. Hmm...
John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.
