NASA is, for the first time in history (at least officially) setting loose human sperm in space.
Images courtesy: NASA
The Micro-11 mission, which reached the International Space Station a while ago on board the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carries a strange payload. Aside from supplies and scientific instruments, it also held a container of frozen human and bull sperm.
The job of the scientists on board the ISS involves thawing out that sperm, and then studying how microgravity affects the movement ability of the cells, as well as their capability to fertilize an egg.
¡°Previous experiments with sea urchin and bull sperm suggest that activating movement happens more quickly in micro-gravity,¡± NASA wrote in a press release, ¡°while the steps leading up to fusion happen more slowly, or not at all. Delays or problems at this stage could prevent fertilisation from happening in space.¡±
Images courtesy: NASA
The study is actually on human sperm (because we¡¯re not sending cattle into space just yet) but the bull sperm is a control group. Because it¡¯s activity is more consistent that of humans, it¡¯ll tell scientists whether any strange observed effects are due to a particular sperm sample or because of weightlessness.
It¡¯s an important study, particularly if we intend to begin colonising other planets. In the short-term, you want to know how the harsh environment of space can affect the breeding capabilities of colonists. In the long-term, by the time we have the technology to leave our solar system and search out habitable planets much further out, we need to know that spacefarers can multiply while on board a shuttle for decades, or whether they would just die out before reaching their destination.
Once the mission is done, the sperm samples will eventually make their way back to Earth for further testing.