Peter Chelsom's sci-fi film 'The Space Between Us' portrayed the story of a human baby who is born on Mars during a space expedition. And now, recent developments suggest that giving birth to a baby on Mars is not a cinematic theme, and humans could make it happen in the future. According to a new study report published in the journal Science Advances, humans will be able to reproduce on the Red Planet as the sperm could survive not just weeks, but for as long as 200 years.
The future of humans on Mars
The new study report could elevate the morale of visionaries like SpaceX founder Elon Musk who are planning to create full-fledged Mars colonies in the future.
In the study report, titled 'Evaluating the long-term effect of space radiation on the reproductive normality of mammalian sperm preserved on the International Space Station', researchers talked about how sperm can be preserved without any damages for several years on Martian conditions.
During the study, researchers made use of mouse freeze-dried spermatozoa. These samples were preserved in the International Space Station (ISS) for five years and ten months. Scientists later analyzed the effects of space radiation on spermatozoa and tried to determine whether any DNA damage has happened.
"We developed a method to evaluate the biological effect of space radiation and examined the reproductive potential of mouse freeze-dried spermatozoa stored on the International Space Station (ISS) for the longest period in biological research. The space radiation did not affect sperm DNA or fertility after preservation on ISS, and many genetically normal offspring were obtained," wrote the researchers on the study report.
The vitality of human Mars missions
A few weeks back, Elon Musk had claimed that dinosaurs would not have gone extinct if the species had developed spaceships. Several space experts agree with Musk, and they believe that Mars colonization is the only option to save humanity, as earth could become inhabitable one day or the other.
Earlier, Elon Musk asserted that humans are the only conscious beings in the universe, and he urged everyone to use this consciousness to emerge as a multi-planetary species.
