Netherlands-based startup SpaceLife Origin wants to send a pregnant woman 402 kilometers above the earth to give birth to the first extraterestrial baby in history, in the name of science.

Should our planet ever become unable to sustain human life, our species’ only hope would be to leave and settle elsewhere, be it a haven floating through space or another planet. But in order for this exodus to be a success, we first have to learn how to reproduce in space, and the founders of SpaceLife Origin want to get the ball rolling by sending a pregnant woman into space and having her give birth in zero gravity conditions.

According to Egbert Edelbroek, one of the executives of the Dutch startup, learning how to give birth in space is an insurance policy for the human race. Even if we ever discover or build an inhabitable place away from Earth, we must first uncover the secrets of space birth if we stand any chance of survival. To do that, SpaceLife Origin plans to organize a series of pioneering experiments over the next five years, with the most important one — an actual human birth in space scheduled for 2024.

Edelbroek claims that he has already met with several spaceflight companies willing to transport the team 402 kilometers above the earth, and wealthy people willing to finance the experiment. He has also had discussions with women willing to become the first to give birth in space.

Getting the pregnant woman into space just before she’s ready to deliver the baby sounds difficult enough, but it’s the safety of the baby and the childbirth itself that experts are worried about. Astronauts usually experience three times the force of gravity during a rocket’s ascent to orbit, and no one knows how that will affect the fetus or the mother.

The absence of gravity would pose serious problems, like the lack of assistance when the mother pushes the baby out, the difficulty of administering a pain-numbing epidural with the patient flowing through space, or bodily fluids floating through the shuttle as blobs.

SpaceLife Origin acknowledges that its plan still has many unknowns, but that’s the main reason for this pioneering mission: to find answers.

Words to Learn 相关词汇

【大批离去】dàpī líqù exodus a departure of a large number of people

【开始】kāishǐ get the ball rolling set something, often a process, in motion; begin

荷兰初创企业SpaceLife Origin计划以科学的名义送孕妇去地球上空402公里的太空生下历史上第一个“天外宝宝”。

万一有一天我们的地球无法再让人类生存，人类的唯一希望就是离开地球移居他处，或许是漂浮在太空中的庇护所，也可能是另一颗星球。为了让人类成功迁离，我们首先要学会如何在太空繁衍后代。SpaceLife Origin的创始人希望能先将一名孕妇送入太空，让她在零重力条件下分娩。

这家荷兰初创企业的高管埃格伯特· 埃德尔布罗克说，学习如何在太空生孩子对于人类而言是一种保险策略。

即使有一天我们在地球外发现或建造了宜居住所，如果想要存活下去，我们也要先揭开太空生育的秘密。为此，SpaceLife Origin公司计划在未来五年组织一系列先遣试验，其中真人在太空分娩这项最重要的试验安排在2024年。

埃德尔布罗克称，他已经和几家愿意将试验团队送至地球上方402公里高空的航天公司以及那些愿意资助试验的富人碰过面。他还和那些愿意最先在太空分娩的女性讨论过。

在孕妇分娩前将其送入太空本就已经够困难的了，何况还有孩子和分娩过程的安全问题让专家操心。在火箭进入轨道前宇航员通常会承受三倍地心引力的重压，没有人知道这些重力会对胎儿或母亲产生什么影响。

没有重力会产生多个严重问题，比如，母亲用力娩出婴儿时会缺少助力，产妇在太空中漂浮时也将难以注射硬膜外麻醉剂，还有体液将会一团团地漂浮在飞船中。

SpaceLife Origin公司承认，这个计划依然有很多未知因素存在，但这也是这个先驱任务的主要目的 —— 寻找答案。

(Chinadaily.com.cn)