Cockroaches: Potential Spacefarers?
A population of 10,000 cockroaches will infest a single low-income apartment, with a surface area of roughly 850 square feet. The habitable volume would include floor & wall spaces, and furniture. So with a 6-inch wall thickness the habitable volume may only be 425 cubic feet. Cockroaches are omnivores and will thrive on simple plant matter. They are also 2-3 times as resistant to radiation as humans, reducing the need for shielding. They are nocturnal as well, reducing the need for lights.
But there is a better candidate for interstellar voyages: Deinococcus Radiodurans. This bacteria can live and reproduce in nuclear reactors, surviving up to 3 million-times the radiation dose that would kill humans. These bacteria have the ability to repair their own DNA even after multiple complete breaks of the double-helix.
Reference:
Deinococcus Radiodurans
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Re: Humans, Cockroaches & Deinococcus Radiodurans
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- Colonizing space?