Ont. girl will soon be the youngest person with DNA in deep space

A northern Ontario girl will soon have the distinction of being the youngest person with DNA in deep space.

A northern Ontario girl will soon have the distinction of being the youngest person with DNA in deep space.

Seven-year-old Victoria Lehto of Thunder Bay, Ont. will be one of a few hundred becoming a part of humanity’s farthest outpost.

Her DNA will soon be heading beyond the orbit of our moon, into deep space – making her the youngest person to have their DNA that far from Earth.

Victoria told CTV News that she is “pretty excited” that her DNA is going into space.

The venture is a result of a partnership between her father, Ryan Lehto, a DNA preservation expert, and Celestis, a company that until now has been known for memorial spaceflight services.

"They wanted us to process DNA to go into space, so I developed some technology around that for it to be able to survive into space,” said Ryan.

“We had some celebrities come along and stuff like that as well, then they offered on the next space launch to send up one of us, so I said 'well, let's shoot Victoria up there.'