Although hundreds of people have flown into space since the dawn of the space age, it is unlikely that we will ever become an interstellar species. Our bodies aren’t capable of handling the conditions of space travel for long periods of time. Roger Launius, an eminent space historian and chair for the Division of Space History, believes that humans and the machines they use to explore space will evolve together. How they will evolve and the length of the evolutionary process is hard to predict.

He also believes that we will eventually colonize on the moon and possibly Mars. Yet, creating an Earth-like environment for astronauts to live in would be prohibitive in cost and time. One possible solution is changing the astronauts’ physiological makeup so they may adapt to new environments, essentially turning them into Cyborgs.

We are already seeing the benefits of mechanical transplants in the forms of pace makers, hearing aids, and bone replacements. Given the leaps and bounds of technology and science, the probability of a Cyborg society no longer sounds as fantastical as it did fifty years ago.