Chinese scientists plan monkey mating experiment on space station
Miscellaneous / / April 04, 2023
This will allow us to understand whether people can reproduce in space.
Chinese scientists and astronauts of the new space station going to do a reproductive experiment using monkeys. Two macaques will be brought to the Tiangong to mate and observe the animals' behavior in zero gravity. About it writes The South China Morning Post.
The experiment is planned to be carried out in the largest science compartment of China's T-shaped space station. Right now, the module's two biological test cabinets only have room for algae, fish, or snails, but they can be expanded and reconfigured, the scientists note.
After studying smaller creatures, “some studies will be done with mice and macaques to see how they grow or even breed in space,” said Zhang Lu, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, who is leading the development of an auxiliary equipment.
According to Kehkui Kee, professor at the School of Medicine at Tsinghua University, as more countries are planning long-term settlements in orbit around the Moon or Mars, “these experiments will necessary." This will allow us to understand whether people can reproduce in space.
Scientists have pondered this question for decades. In 1992, there was even a married couple on the ISS, astronauts Jan Davis and Mark Lee. But NASA says no one has ever had sex in space yet.
Adam Watkins, Associate Professor of Reproductive Physiology and Development at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom, notes that such "manoeuvres" in zero gravity should be much more difficult than it might seem on the surface. first glance.
First, it's hard to just stay in close contact with each other in zero gravity. Second, as astronauts experience lower blood pressure in space, maintaining an erection and arousal becomes more problematic than on Earth. If that's not enough, the complete lack of privacy on shuttles and spacecraft means there are no rooms where two astronauts can have privacy for any length of time.
Adam Watkins
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