Study Raises Serious Concerns About Reproduction in Space

Amidst all the talk of in-space manufacturing, growing crystals in orbit, and finally sending humans back to the Moon, some space experts are concerned about what happens when humans start making babies outside of Earth's gravity, magnetosphere, and atmosphere. The results of a new study published in the journal Reproductive Biomedicine Online suggest there are some very real concerns that need to be addressed before it would be remotely viable, the publication writes for Phys.org.

Describing space as a fundamentally "hostile environment" for all human life, the study highlights the very limited data on human reproduction in space. But it does make it clear that interruptions to the circadian rhythm, limited gravity, and cosmic radiation are all extremely problematic for healthy reproductive processes.

Even short-term radiation exposure has shown to be adversely disruptive of female menstrual cycles in animal testing, as well as increase the risk of certain ...