38 DISCOVERMAGAZINE.COMCOLONIZING SPACE MEANS REPRODUCING THERE.
WE STILL DON’ T KNOW IF THAT’S POSSIBLE.I
f there’s one thing people are good at, it’s
making more people. We’re such prolific
baby-makers that 7 billion of us now roam
the planet. But our reproductive skills may
soon be put to the test. Whether from over-
population, environmental destruction or just
for the sake of exploration, we’ll want to reach
out and settle alien planets, too. And Mars will
need moms — and dads. But given the harsh
radiation prevalent throughout space, and the
challenges of reproducing in low gravity, that’s
easier said than done.
Researchers have known that space travel can
be hazardous to human health since NASA’s
Gemini missions in the 1960s. Bone density in
astronauts’ feet dwindled by some 6 percent after
less than two weeks in space. Muscles shrank at
an even higher rate. And cosmic rays, ubiquitous
in space and within space stations, cause cancer
and tissue disease — and would eventually prove
damaging to DNA and the nervous system, too.
Space is a hostile place, even for trained astro-
nauts. What will the harsh environment do to
fragile embryos, fetuses and newborns? How
does it affect our reproductive systems in the
first place? The answers remain largely unknown.
Scientists don’t know if women can even get
pregnant — let alone stay pregnant — in space.With biology working against us, researchers
are still trying to answer the crucial question:
How will we make happy, healthy babies in space?SPERM, MEET EGG
Every facet of baby-making in space is difficult.
No one’s ever had sex in space, so far as we
know. Without gravity, just keeping hold of your
partner to do the deed might prove difficult. And
then functional sperm and egg cells still need to
meet up to kick-start a pregnancy, which requires
a slew of cellular actions working perfectly.
For decades, scientists have been working to
solve the reproductive mysteries of space. After
the space race, astronauts started hauling fish,
roundworms, frogs and salamanders into orbit
to test their off-world breeding abilities. In a
series of promising surprises, they all managed to
produce healthy offspring. But amid the success,
scientists hit a wall. Aboard a Russian satellite in
1979, male and female rats either failed to fertilize
during an 18.5-day mission or chose not to have
sex — a display of rodent abstinence practically
unheard of on Earth. Subsequent experiments
with mice have raised other concerns.
Unlike their slimy, fertile friends, rodents
are mammals, whose anatomy, physiology and
genes are similar to ours. Teresa Woodruff, viceSEX IN THE
COSMIC CITY
BY AMBER JORGENSON