Starship Humanity

Cameron M. Smith

• A space mission that isolates people away from Earth for extremely long periods—for instance, a Mars colony or a multigenerational voyage to a nearby star—will inevitably lead to the evolution of new cultural and physiological traits.
• Long-distance spaceships will be home to unique environmental hazards such as increased radiation and lower ambient pressures. These influences will most severely affect the most fragile stages of life—in the womb and just after birth.
• Mission planners will have to carefully select the “crew” of space travelers. Their goal: a genetically healthy population, but one diverse enough to withstand the occasional pandemic and thrive in profoundly new environments.

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