Baby-Making on Mars

In this story for Pioneer Works Broadcast, evolutionary biologist Darshana Narayanan explores the history and stakes of reproductive biology in space, beginning with the Soviet Bion program, launched in the 1960s to study how living beings function in microgravity. Narayanan writes about the pioneering rodent research of American scientist Jeffrey Alberts—including the first experiments of pregnant mammals in orbit—which remains one of the only sources of empirical data on pregnancy in space. In a time of billionaire-driven visions of space colonization from Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, Narayanan asks crucial questions about our biological readiness for life beyond Earth: If we build the infrastructure to settle on Mars, can humans survive, adapt, and safely reproduce in ways that allow a multi-planetary future? How would our species evolve?

Over the next two years, Alberts and Keefe spoke regularly by phone, and under Keefe’s guidance, Alberts developed prototypes for experimental equipment in line with NASA’s specifications. He rigged cages to monitor the pregnant rats—the dams—after their trip to space and designed a series of tests to study the sensorimotor functioning of their pups, who would be born back on Earth after their prenatal stint in orbit. He devised thin mercury-filled tubes to wrap around the bellies of the pink, hairless rat pups who, at birth, are the size of a human pinkie finger. The tubes would stretch and compress with each breath the pups took, tracing their respiration. He had tests to tell how well the pups could roll over from back to belly—“righting” themselves—on a solid surface, a measure of their tactile and vestibular abilities. A similar test in water would eliminate the feedback of touch, isolating their sense of balance and spatial orientation. There were devices that emitted puffs of odor while monitoring the pups’ sniff rates. He had hearing tests, too, and optokinetic drums—rotating instruments often used to test vision in humans.