# What to do with with dead bodies on Generation Ships **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 14, 2023, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-with-dead-bodies-on-generation-ships/985514 "2023-06-14T17:58:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 131
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-with-dead-bodies-on-generation-ships/985514/131 "2023-06-20T23:12:54Z")
One of the main impetuses, that I hear about in books, podcasts and videos is, “We might be alone in the universe and if so, we have a duty to protect life”, or something there abouts. As Gray asks in the SETI thread: > [@What is the end game of SETI?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-end-game-of-seti/985712/46): > > What responsibilities to life in a dead universe are impose on us and do we have to do anything about it? I think part of the bias for saving life is it just _seems_ like we should. But any future people haven’t come into being and once all the people alive today are dead, we can’t remember or morn for the end of life in the universe. We try, with thought experiments, to figure out how to get around losing our precious spark. How? Populate the universe of course! It’s easy, haven’t you seen Star Trek? But it’s not of course. A far easier, and smarter, plan is to not fuck this planet (and life) up. Ultimately, any and all life has an expiration date, anyway, if the Heat Death theory of the universe is to be believed so ultimately what’s the point? We have another 5 billion years here (yes I know, meteors, solar flares, Yellowstone volcanoes, etc. But any of those things should be easy to stop as opposed to sending a generation ship to Proxima Centauri b.). I realize I’m kind of fighting my own hypothetical here but it seems so hand-wavy to say ‘on generation ships we will have to regulate the population by regulating births’. So why not just do that on Earth? Because people. Why fly to Proxima Centauri b to terraform it, when Mars is right next door? Because even with Earth as a supply base, it’s too damn hard. If we can terraform Mars (or Proxima Centauri b) why not just fix the climate change issues here? The answer: people. The same basic people we propose sending out. If we have the ability to have… > [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > … a system of robotic probes, each of which carries frozen embryos. If a planet is not found suitable for humans the robots just develop it for resources and discard the embryos. If one of the probes lands on a planet that humans could survive on, the robots create habitats, birthing and raising facilities, etc. Once all are complete, hatch the embryos. We should have the ability to save this planet. Not, Sam Stone, that I don’t think that’s a fantastic idea. It is! I’m just spit-balling here. [_quietly steps off soap box_] --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-with-dead-bodies-on-generation-ships/985514)._