Has anyone ever tried concieving in space?

Question

Due to the natural speed limit that this universe provides us with, interstellar travel will never be possible for an individual person - if we were ever to actually try and reach for the stars, we would have to build a civillisation in space. I know that in space they test the effects of zero grav on almost everything.. have they tried concieving a child? if so, how about the pregnancy? does anyone here think that human rights groups would tolerate the necessary experiments if it meant possible complications to a pregnancy?

guess that's kind of a lot of questions.. thanks in advance

Answer 1

Very doubtful.

A married couple once flew a shuttle mission, but only because they were assigned to the crew before they got married. They reported that they abstained from any intimate behavior (partly due to the lack of privacy, but I believe they were also under orders to refrain). Other than this exception, NASA policy prohibits married couples from working on the same mission, both due to the social dynamics and to avoid the loss of an entire family in the event of disaster.

Long term, such as on the International Space Station, a pregnancy would present a troublesome complication. The stress of a reentry for a pregnant astronaut would certainly be medically unwise in the later months, and they're not equipped to handle a delivery in orbit. The stress of reentry would be tough on a newborn, as well.

Eventually, the question will have to be dealt with, but we're not ready yet.

Answer 2

They have tested in-vitro on mice, and it's definitely possible to empregnate. WHether this works on humans is another story, and whether the baby develops normally is another huge problem.

Yes, human rights groups will have a huge problem with human testing to determine for sure if this would work. It's been tested on mice, and will probably be further tested on other animas to determine if there are birth defects, or other development issues and work out ways to solve those problems before any human trials would be imaginatble.

Answer 3

Nobody has done any experiments in human reproduction in space. NASA really avoids the whole subject, but to learn about what information is available, try the book in the source.