Abstract

There are three kinds of health risks inherent in long-range space travel and tourism: Microgravity (weightlessness), radiation, and contamination by exo-life forms. There are two proposed strategies to deal with the survival of humans in space: protective mechanisms, which create Earth-like mini-bubbles in the hostile space environment and terraforming, which is intended to transform celestial bodies, such as Mars, to closer resemble Earth. A third strategy seems to be a long-range alternative: the adaptation of the human body to extraterrestrial conditions, advocated by transhumanism. This third strategy might enable humanity to achieve an unlimited expansion into the universe, but at the price of losing its distinctive character.

摘要

远程太空旅行和旅游业存在三种固有的健康风险：微重力（失重）、辐射和外星生命形式的污染。有两种应对人类在太空中生存的策略：保护机制，在恶劣的太空环境中产生类似地球的微型气泡，以及地球化改造，旨在将火星等天体转变为更接近地球. 第三种策略似乎是一个长期的替代方案：超人类主义提倡的人体适应外星环境。第三种策略可能使人类能够无限扩展到宇宙中，但代价是失去其独特性。