ELON Musk has big plans for humans to colonize Mars and has previously said he’d like one million people to be there by 2050.
Living on the Red Planet will be difficult in itself but colonizing it could present other issues including the problem of having babies in space.
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No one has ever gotten pregnant in space and even sex in space has never been officially recorded.
The topic is something space agencies are looking to explore as long-distance space travel draws closer to being a reality.
If humans are to one day live in space and colonize Mars, we’ll need to work out how to reproduce there.
So far, several issues with sex in space have been identified.
Low libido
Astronauts have previously noted that their sexual libido suffered during space missions.
The weightlessness of space is said to cause hormonal changes that could decrease a person’s sex drive.
German astronaut Ulrich Walter wrote a book called ‘Höllenritt durch Raum und Zeit (A hell ride through time and space)’, which discusses sex in space.
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The astronaut said he lost his libido during a 10-day stay in space but was reassured that it can return after a few weeks.
It’s currently unclear if long space missions to Mars or living on a different planet would have a similar effect.
Pushing your partner away
Without gravity, the actual act of having sex could prove to be the biggest issue.
A lack of gravity means your partner would be pushed away from you without some sort of assistance.
Former Nasa bioethicist Paul Root Wolpe told DW that Velcro could be a solution to space sex issues.
He told the outlet: “Everything on the walls of the space station is covered in Velcro, so you could take advantage of that by velcroing one partner to the wall.
“You have to get creative in this space.”
Radiation threats
A recent study found that space radiation from a Mars mission could affect how fertile a woman is.
According to the paper in the European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology: “Space travel has different effects on the reproductive capacity of women compared to men.
“The radiation exposure intrinsic to deep space travel causes destruction of some of a woman’s primordial follicles.
“Data suggests that a typical Mars mission may reduce a women’s ovarian reserve by about 50%.
“This has consequences to a woman’s reproductive capacity and, more significantly, decreases the time interval to her menopause.”
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