China to Send Monkeys to Space to Have Sex: What Could Go Wrong? A Lot

Scientists in China have unveiled plans to send monkeys into space to have sex. The research will be carried out on China's new Tiangong space station to improve our understanding of how animals adapt to microgravity and other space environments.

As far as we know, no humans have ever had sex in space. "The act of having sex in zero gravity could be quite difficult," Adam Watkins, an associate professor in reproductive and developmental physiology at the University of Nottingham, told Newsweek. "From the lack of privacy to the fact that getting an erection in space is more difficult than here on earth due to the blood pressure changes that occur."

Despite these barriers, sex in space is still possible, at least in rodents. During the Cold War, Soviet scientists sent a group of male and female rats into orbit for 18 days in a "mating chamber." On their return, the rats appeared to have enjoyed their time in space, but none of the females successfully gave birth.

"It's one thing to get animals pregnant in space, it's much harder to keep them pregnant," Watkins said. "First, the sheer stress of sending the mice into space in the first place could mean that if they do manage to get pregnant, then they won't stay pregnant.

"Second, embryos don't seem to like developing in zero gravity, meaning they are less likely to continue growing and give rise to healthy mice."

Embryos in space may also be vulnerable to genetic abnormalities. "On Earth, we are shielded from the most damaging radiation coming from the sun by our atmosphere," Watkins said. "In space, that shielding is gone. As such, exposure to harmful cosmic rays is much higher in space and this can damage cells in both the astronauts and in the delicate embryos, meaning they stop developing."

Getting rats and mice to have sex in space is hard enough, but monkeys will pose even more of a challenge. "As monkeys are more intelligent animals than mice, their natural behavior may be disrupted more by being blasted into space," Watkins said. "It could be harder to just get monkeys to mate in the first place let alone keep them pregnant.

"Monkeys [also] require a lot more space and care than mice, so it is going to be difficult."

There are also other issues with sending monkeys into space for a study of this type. Lisa Jones-Engel, a primate scientist and advisor at PETA, explained that blasting monkeys into space also raises several ethical concerns. "There is no point in studying monkey reproduction in space, and it would be unspeakably cruel to these sensitive, social animals," she told Newsweek.

"In their natural homes, female and male macaques can choose whom to partner with, and like humans, they develop relationships. They aren't breeding machines."

However, if humans are to establish long-term settlements on other planets, we will need to develop a better understanding of how we can reproduce in these environments.

"While some people don't agree that we should leave the confines of our planet, if we are to colonize other worlds we are going to have to be able to reproduce," Watkins said. "Understanding how sex and reproduction do, and don't, work in space will be vital in our efforts to establish human populations outside of planet Earth."