The Space Baby Era Is Here

Last fall, a plane took off from Ottawa, Ontario, with some unusual cargo: a collection of nonviable human embryos and eggs. Once the aircraft reached a high altitude, the pilot made arcs in the air, creating short intervals of weightlessness that gave researchers on board a chance to study the possible effects of space-like microgravity on cells that are key to reproduction, according to Shawna Pandya, a Canadian space medicine expert and one of the study’s investigators.

The experiment fits into one of Pandya’s favorite topics: whether the expected perils of space travel will allow healthy human fertilization, gestation and birth beyond our natural habitat of Earth. And while she says it’s too early to share what they learned from that flight, she thinks it’s time to talk more about space babies.

“We’re pretty excited about what we can do to advance our understanding of reproductive health in space,” said Pandya, who will join two other female astronauts and form one of the first commercial crews on Virgin Galactic’s new Delta-class plane, which will be going into space, possibly starting later this year.