Posted on: Thursday, February 28, 2002

Families likely to pioneer long space voyages, experts suggest

USA Today

Man's first trip to another solar system may look more like the family drama "Lost in Space" than the military-style "Starship Troopers," say experts looking into the human side of space flight.

If mankind turns to long-duration trips to visit distant planets, space travelers would have to organize themselves as a family instead of using the military expedition model now used by astronauts, an anthropologist told a panel of scientists at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Boston. The panel included experts on linguistics, genetics and psychology.

For voyages lasting centuries, anthropologist John Moore of the University of Florida-Gainesville envisions families setting out, intermarrying and rearing generations of children far from home, much as Polynesian clans once voyaged across the Pacific, settling distant islands like Hawai'i.

Last year, a National Academy of Sciences report listed mental illness alongside bone loss and heart weakness as potential medical issues if humans took a three-year trip to Mars. But Moore says launching whole family groups would provide more stability than sending unrelated strangers on long-term missions.