X-Message-Number: 15144
From: "Michael LaTorra" <>
Subject: Re: Message #15134 - Storing cryonic patients in space
Date: Wed, 20 Dec 2000 10:31:30 -0700

Pat Clancy proposed that for long-term (many hundreds or even thousands of
years) storage of cryonic patients "the safest place would be _space_." He
thinks that we should "send vessels into long slow comet-like orbits. And
with appropriate reflective shielding, you wouldn't even need refrigeration
to maintain a temperature close to 0*K!"

I agree that space storage may be needed if, indeed, cryonic patients need
to be stored for longer than about 200 years. However, I don't think that
space storage will be easy, cheap or fool-proof for the following reasons:

1. Launch costs would have to fall below 10% of the present price to make
getting to space even remotely cost-effective.

2. Shielding would need to be massive in order to protect against
high-energy cosmic rays over the long term. Currently, our astronauts
benefit from being in relatively low orbits where the Van Allen belt above
them deflects many charged particles. Interplanetary craft would receive
much higher dosages. And even if the shielding material were obtained from
asteroids or comets, it will still be expensive to get.

3. Heat shielding requires either great mass (see above) or controlled
rotation or dissipative structures. In any case, the patient modules would
need to be maintained within a narrow range of acceptably cold temperatures
(particularly with the new vitrification technique)which means active
control. Surely there will not be a human crew do perform such control
activities. So the patients would be watched over by machine of loving grace
;)

4. It seems likely to me that if we had the technical level to accomplish
the above in space, we would also probably have attained similarly high
levels of biological control which would mean the ability to resuscitate
cryonic patients. Therefore, space storage would be moot for most people.
However, there might be some unusual cases where it would be desirable (as
it was for Khan and his followers in that STAR TREK story).



Regards,

Michael LaTorra


Member:
Extropy Institute: extropy.org
Alcor Life Extension Foundation: alcor.org
Society for Technical Communication: stc.org

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