In Mission Micro-11, as it’s been called, astronauts on board the ISS will test if samples of human and bull semen (acting as quality control) can move freely enough and fast enough to fuse with an egg inside the station’s Microgravity Science Glovebox. The ISS astronauts will also record video of the experiments and send the footage back to Earth to be analysed.
(Yes, there are six full-grown men on board the ISS right now, but NASA didn’t ask them to contribute in another way, “it’s understandable why the space agency didn’t go that route, if for no other reason than the limits of what can be reasonably demanded in even an outer space workplace,” as Live Science notes.)
The experiments are important because there’s evidence from earlier experiments that the lack of gravity might throw off how sperm function here on Earth. While sperm themselves might be able to move more freely in microgravity, the bigger challenge might be getting the sperm to fuse with the egg. “Delays or problems at this stage could prevent fertilization from happening in space,” according to NASA’s web site.
Originally shared by Jenny Winder
Can Humans Conceive In Space? NASA Sent Sperm To The #ISS To Find Out
https://futurism.com/sperm-space-nasa/
So, if done in a lab on earth it's somehow better?
ReplyDeleteI mean truly, It wouldn't be a lot to ask from any man up there, to be honest. Great, now I ask myself if they ever wank off on the ISS. ;-)
Yeah, it's not exactly, "sit on top of two thousand tonnes of explosive material and hope it shoots you into spa- oh, wait...", is it ? :P
ReplyDeleteAnd since the longest time in space is over a year... no-one's gonna last that long. I'd sooner believe in the Flat Earth than that...
I don't want to imagine what's floating around in the ISS!
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