Could a human being born in zero gravity ever come to Earth?

Question

I've always wondered.

Answer 1

If they were born in zero gravity and did not remain, or live in zero gravity, then they should be ok. Like if they were born in zero gravity and then soon thereafter were returned to normal gravity.
If they are born there and remain,then no. Your blood and all other body fluids flow upward. Hence, if the baby remained at zero gravity then the baby's body would not develope properly due to lack of blood and other essential fluids throughout the entire body. Check this site:

curious.astro.cornell.edu/
question.php?number=702

Answer 2

Yes..the fact that they were born in zero gravity is of little significance. Just being born there and then coming to the earth would be mildly different than a newborn baby now. Being born in space would be no different. Now, if the entire gestation was in zero gravity, the baby would not have developed muscles, and thus would have issues once they got into a gravitational enviroment, but the muscles would develop. Same thing for someone who was born and lived in space for a while. The inhabitors of the space station got through extensive physical therapy when they get back to earth after months in space to redevelop the muscles and acclaimate to the environment.

Answer 3

Probably not. I read somewhere that there is a limit to how long astronauts can stay in space. The problem is not merely physical effects. Over time, they become irritable, even the best of them. It is said because certain body chemical reactions count on gravity to work properly. Absent gravity, the chemical reactions work differently. I was told the chemical difference is similar the body when it is tired, except that no sleep would fix the situation. Because of this, I do not believe humans can be born and raised in zero gravity. The chemical imbalance could be too harsh for the body to deal. It may be that the body reaches a different balance in those born in space. If so, I believe they will have problems that mirror the problems of the astronauts that stay too long in space.

Also, I was told of a physical problem. Bones grow and heal different in space. It may be that they need the stress of gravity to grow as we expect. Absent this stress, they would grow differently, maybe weaker. Somebody born in space may break their bones in Earth.

I should say I feel ninety percent sure of the first answer, seventy percent of the second. I cannot remember my sources. I hope you get somebody better informed.

Answer 4

Sure, but the health consequences would largley depend on how long the person was in space. The bones and muscles seem to be adversely affected by long terms of living in zero gravity. One would be very weak for sometime suffering from the relatively high gravity on Earth. Coversely, it is thought that people suffering from some heart ailments and those that are bedridden would benefit greatly from zero gravity. Future hospices might be developed in space or even the moon where the gravity is but 16% as that experienced on Earth.

Answer 5

Nobody knows for sure, but the general belief is than such a person could not survive gravity. There is even some evidence that no human born in zero gravity could survive at all because gravity is necessary for development of the child, even before birth.

Answer 6

Well a baby Born in zero G's would be able to come to earth. But the longer the baby stayed in space the more his/her bones would deteriorate. Eventually the bones would have deteriorated enough that they would not support the weight of earth gravity. At this time we don't even know if a child could survive in zero G's all his life. We don't know how far the bones would deteriorate, you need you skeleton do hold yourself together, eventually the skeleton would become so weak that simple functions like breather my break bones.

~D

Answer 7

They could but all they would do is just lie down on the ground and stay there. And then die rapidly because they might not be able to eat and drink and then digest it and get rid of the waste.

You see that one of the reasons that we have our bone structure is because we need to something to push us against our weight. Since in space, bones won't be needed because there is nothing to push against, bones might not exist and even if they do, they will be very frail and weak.

As soon as you enter the Earth's gravitational field, and you start feeling weighted down, your bones will not be strong enough to hold you up and you will fall down. Eventually, you could wait for your bones to get stronger.

This already happens with astronauts in space. As soon as they get there, they MUST ABSOLUTELY so intense exercise so that their bones can stay the way they are. It is probably not obvious but to simulate your weight using exercise, is quite a lot of exercise. So even though, astronauts constantly do physical exercise, they do become weaker just by living in space and they can't help it. This is one of the reasons, there is a limit to how long a human should stay in space.

The Russians, tried keeping their cosmonauts in space for too long and indeed when they returned, they had to be carried out of the shuttle. They were not strong enough to even stand up straight and walk using their own two feet.

Answer 8

If that human gets adapted to 0 G then it would be very difficult for him to adapt himself to the Earth's gravity.

Answer 9

Could a human even be born in microgravity??

Answer 10

Good question. Never thought about it, but I would think it would be a difficult transition.