It’s no secret by now that multiple organisations around the world are targeting the ambitious goal of establishing life, or human colonies, in space.

Sure, it’s not going to be something we see soon – but there’s little doubt that this will, in some way, be tried out and maybe succeed in the future.

And given the way we’ve ravaged our planet, there’s good reason for that too (let’s hope we’ll be more respectful toward our hypothetical future extraterrestrial homes).

But there’s one big problem. If we are to establish colonies in space, we’ll eventually need to reproduce in space if we are to replenish the human populations that we export.

Easily done on Earth. But, as a recent study explains, this could be a huge hurdle to overcome. After all, we have absolutely no idea how reproduction will work in space.

Sure, we’ve been sending people into space for decades now, but the truth is we still really don’t know how space affects the reproductive system, fertility, and the growth of a child. More than that, female astronauts have their menstrual cycles inhibited through hormonal contraception, and the official line is that no intimacy between astronauts in space is known to have occurred.

What we do know is that the differences in gravity have quite significant effects on the human body, and there could be risks from radiation too.

The truth is, it’s hard to figure this out too. The ethical issues are numerous, and how many people would actually want to be part of a human trial? Sure, female astronauts have returned to Earth and had healthy subsequent pregnancies, but who would want to go through that as some sort of guinea pig?

Well, thanks to a group of researchers, we may soon have a clear framework – including medical and ethical guidelines – that help us to understand exactly how reproduction in space might play out. And, as their paper (recently published in Reproductive Biomedicine Online), it’s vital that we look into this sooner rather than later.

Would space reproduction require some form of IVF? Could a viable baby grow in such an environment? Is male fertility sustained in space? Would reproduction be safe – for the mother and the baby? These are all questions that need to be answered, as NASA’s Dr Fathi Karouia explained in a statement:

“As human presence in space expands, reproductive health can no longer remain a policy blind spot. International collaboration is urgently needed to close critical knowledge gaps and establish ethical guidelines that protect both professional and private astronauts – and ultimately safeguard humanity as we move toward a sustained presence beyond Earth.”

It’s a mystery, but it could soon be solved.

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