The Immortality Drive is a large memory device which was taken to the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...

in a

Soyuz spacecraft Soyuz () is a series of spacecraft which has been in service since the 1960s, having made more than 140 flights. It was designed for the Soviet space program by the Korolev Design Bureau (now Energia). The Soyuz succeeded the Voskhod spacecraf ...

on October 12, 2008. The Immortality Drive contains fully digitized

DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...

sequences of a select group of

humans Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are Hominidae, great apes characterized by their Prehistory of nakedness and clothing ...

, such as physicist

Stephen Hawking Stephen William Hawking (8January 194214March 2018) was an English theoretical physics, theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author who was director of research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge. Between ...

, comedian and talk show host

Stephen Colbert Stephen Tyrone Colbert ( ; born May 13, 1964) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is best known for hosting the satirical Comedy Central program ''The Colbert Report'' from 2005 to ...

, ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided in ...

Jo Garcia, game designer Richard Garriott, fantasy authors Tracy Hickman and Laura Hickman, pro wrestler Matt Morgan, and athlete

Lance Armstrong Lance Edward Armstrong (''né'' Gunderson; born September 18, 1971) is an American former professional road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist. He achieved international fame for winning the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times fro ...

.Immortality Drive: Stephen Colbert to have his DNA sent to space
from ''Welt Online'' The microchip also contains a copy of ''

George's Secret Key to the Universe ''George's Secret Key to the Universe'' is a 2007 children's book written by Lucy Hawking, Lucy and Stephen Hawking with Christophe Galfard. Upon its release, the book received mixed reviews, and was followed by five sequels, ''George's Cosmic T ...

'', a 2007 children's book authored by Stephen Hawking and his daughter,

Lucy Lucy is an English language, English feminine given name derived from the Latin masculine given name Lucius with the meaning ''as of light'' (''born at dawn or daylight'', maybe also ''shiny'', or ''of light complexion''). Alternative spellings ar ...

. The intent of the Immortality Drive is to preserve human DNA in a

time capsule A time capsule is a historic treasure trove, cache of goods or information, usually intended as a deliberate method of communication with future people, and to help future archaeologists, anthropologists, or historians. The preservation of holy ...

, in case some global cataclysm should occur on Earth. The Immortality Drive was featured in

History Channel History (formerly and commonly known as the History Channel) is an American pay television television broadcaster, network and the flagship channel of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney General Entertainme ...

's ''

Life After People ''Life After People'' is a television series on which scientists, mechanical engineers, and other experts speculate about what might become of planet Earth if humanity suddenly disappeared. The featured experts also talk about the impact of h ...

'', first-season episode "The Bodies Left Behind". Players from the video game Tabula Rasa were also selected to be among the list of people to get their DNA Launched into Space. These players were randomly selected from those that have logged into Tabula Rasa throughout Operation Immortality's duration, which ended on Sept. 29, 2008. Ryan Gerdes - Hull, GA Jesse Moore - Springfield, MO Matthew DeLucia - Fultondale, AL Christopher Stuckey -

Atlanta, GA Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County and extends into neighboring DeKalb County. With a population of 520,070 (2024 estimate) living within the city limits, At ...

Benjamin Schramm -

Bakersfield, CA Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's population as of the ...

Shane Woodford - Hampden, ME Randall Strye, Jr - Mount Pleasant, MI Jason Van Ess - Salem, OR Christopher Grabowski - North Port, FL Jolyn Barreuther - Council Bluffs, IA Kelvin Malone - Houston, TX James Noble - Las Vegas, NV Troy Hieb - Hermantown, MN Shannon Layne - Cheyenne, WY Adam Davis - Dallas, TX Jacob VanStone - Puyallup, WA Walter Bratcher - Ocala, FL Jed Johnson - Sauk Rapids, MN Robert Sutton - Beaumont, TX Steven Todd - Huntsville, AL Erik Finch -

Austin, TX Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

Byron Johnson - Manor, TX Rolf Weber -

Glendale, AZ Glendale () is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. Located about nine miles northwest of the state capital Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, Glendale is known for State Farm Stadium, which is the home of the Arizona Cardinals football t ...

References

category:International Space Station category:time capsules {{space-stub

See also

References