🛰 Is the U.S. Planning to Build "Living" Space Stations?
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) of the U.S. Department of Defense has announced a competition for the best ideas for growing microgravity living tissues. However, this is not intended for printing artificial organs in colonies on other planets but rather for constructing future orbital stations using biomechanical structures.
🛸 What Will It Look Like?
American specialists are searching for ways to create massive structures in space without welding or shipping pre-made metal parts and equipment.
Instead, biological tissue is proposed as the connecting material. These space objects would grow like living organisms, even without human intervention. Similar concepts have been depicted in science fiction, such as in the series Star Trek: Voyager.
"Biological material, like tent fabric, will grow over metal brackets, integrating the necessary electronics into itself," DARPA documents reveal.
DARPA envisions using this technology to "grow" cables for space elevators, nets for collecting orbital debris, components for space stations, and measuring instruments.
This April, DARPA will host an open conference in San Francisco to provide detailed insights into biomechanical space stations and related projects.
🤫 Science Fiction Becomes Reality
DARPA is known for funding unconventional and even fantastical projects (most of which are defense-related). These include flying aircraft carriers and massive streetlights on the Moon.
Some of DARPA's most famous projects include the prototype of the modern internet (ARPANET), GPS, and the "smart" assistant for military personnel (CALO), which eventually entered the commercial market as Apple's Siri.
More on the topic:
🪐 "In 300 Years, There Will Be Millions of People Living in Space,"—astrophysicist Adam Frank
🪐 AI Trends from Y Combinator Accelerator: Data Centers in Space
