Mouse returns from space, gives birth to 9 healthy pups - a promising sign for human space travel

Beijing (The Uttam Hindu): Mankind's dream of settling in space and making a home on other worlds has got a new flight. A mouse that returned to Earth from China's space station 'Tiangong' has given birth to 9 healthy babies. This incident is being considered a major success in the world of science. Scientists say that this experiment proves that short-term space travel does not have any negative impact on the reproductive capacity of mammals. This historic experiment was part of China's Shenzhou-21 mission, which has strengthened the possibility of establishing human settlements on Mars and the Moon in the future.

This unique experiment began on October 31st, when China sent four mice (codenamed 6, 98, 154, and 186) aboard the Shenzhou-21 spacecraft to its space station, located approximately 400 kilometers above Earth. These mice spent two weeks there, experiencing microgravity (low gravity), dangerous space radiation, and the harsh conditions of space. After returning safely to Earth on November 14th, one of the female mice gave birth to nine pups on December 10th. Although only six of these pups survived, scientists believe this survival rate is completely normal. The mother is breastfeeding her babies well, and all the "space pups" are growing actively.

Wang Hongmei, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, expressed excitement over this success, saying that this result shows that space travel does not damage the reproductive organs. Previous experiments had only used sperm from mice returning from space to fertilize eggs on Earth, but this time a complete female mouse was sent to space, which gave birth to healthy babies naturally after returning. This mission was not so easy; due to the delay in return, there was a crisis of food shortage for the mice. Then the ground team tested astronauts' food like compressed biscuits and soy milk in case of emergency, in which soy milk proved to be the safest option.

This experiment is extremely important for scientists because the genetic structure of mice is very similar to that of humans. If space travel had any adverse effects on reproduction, it would certainly have been visible in these mice. To create an Earth-like environment for the mice on the space station, the lights were turned on at 7 am and off at 7 pm, and an AI system monitored their every move. Now, scientists will monitor the development of these children to see if any hidden effects of space radiation are visible in the next generation. This experiment is a major step towards ensuring the safety of human reproduction during long journeys to Mars or the Moon.