The POT, Elon Musk, the Chinese and other entities are clear about their ambition that humans can aspire to colonize some other stars in outer space, such as Mars or the Moon itself. But this scenario requires considering a variable that no one seems to take into account: the possibility of having babies in space.
Fortunately, there is a company that has put its efforts to clear up this complex variable, with the goal of achieving fertilization and eventually the birth of people in a partial gravity environment. This is Spaceborn United.
Not long ago, the Chinese space agency began to detail the first details of its supposed plan to colonize the solar system, starting with the Moon and Mars, but nothing was addressed about the issue of babies.
And the fact is that due to the natural order of this type of migration, it would be absolutely necessary to reach a point where new generations can be born completely in these new homes, not on Earth. What are the challenges that this implies?
Spaceborn United or how to make babies in space
A report from the friends of MIT Technolology Reviewtells us how the company Spaceborn United is already working on research work that allows what would technically be extraterrestrial reproduction and human births on other planets.
Egbert Edelbroek, head of the pioneering company, describes the challenge they face in this project:
“If we want to have human colonies (…) beyond Earth and if we really want them to be independent, we have to face the challenge of reproduction.
It’s a delicate matter. In the end, we expose vulnerable human cells, human embryos, to the dangers of space (…) for which embryos are not designed.”
In this first stage of work, Spaceborn United, for purely ethical reasons, will first seek the reproduction of mice before considering sending human sperm and eggs far from Earth.
To achieve this, it has created a disk that mixes these cells, where the rodent embryo can be cryogenically frozen to suspend its development and guarantee a safe return in difficult conditions, with shaking and gravitational forces.
It is estimated that it could take between 5 and 6 years before this same experiment is carried out with a human embryo.
But at least there is a relatively established methodology that will allow, in theory, the reproduction of babies in space.
Although it will not be following the traditional method.