No, at least is unlikely enough so that it would be unethical to try the experiment. Conditions in the womb already different meaning fetus might develop differently in zero g - then problems with growing up might mean a growing child's body does not grow normally - and that is if they survive also. We don't yet know for sure if adults can survive for two years in space - at least one space doctor thinks that that is not possible in zero g conditions.
So - would a baby or young child survive a year, or two years in zero g? At what age is it safe to do long period space flights, like several months, or a year - 5, 10, 15 18? I think the current state of knowledge would be framed around questions like that rather than whether a child would grow all the way to adulthood in zero g.
Humans have not evolved to carry a child or give birth or to grow up in anything except full gravity.
The human body doesn't have automatic systems to adjust the way it functions to cope with lower gravity - as enthusiasts seem to assume must be the case - why should they when no organism on Earth has ever needed to adapt to lower gravity?
When they first flew humans into space in the late 1960s - nobody knew if a human being could survive as much as an hour in zero g. That's one reason why Russia and the US did all those early tests with monkeys before they sent humans to orbit.
They found that we can survive not just an hour, but for days -and eventually they found, for weeks, and months, and finally - over a year. Nobody yet knows for sure if we can survive - that's adults - for two years in space in zero go or micro gravity..
So - all we can say with some confidence is that a healthy adult - who does a lot of exercise each day - may be able to last well over a year in space (but only a handful of people have tried so not really much data to go on to generalize to others).
We don't know yet if an adult can survive two years in space, even with vigorous exercise each day. As for young children - how can you know if they would survive even a year unless you try?
In addition to the problems with bone, there are many others
For all these reasons, pregnant women are not permitted to fly to the ISS because of possible damage to the fetus.
I don't know about children, if it has ever arisen, any plans to fly a child to the ISS. Maybe that won't happen until space tourism is well underay.
But I'd have thought it's not the best place to send very young children either - and especially babies. They would have all the same problems of blood pooling in the upper half of the body, faster resting heart beat, low red blood cell count, kidneys etc not working properly, poor appetite, and not drinking enough, and getting malnourished and dehydrated and deficient in magnesium.
Not exactly the recipe you want for a growing child :).
Presumably there is some point at which you decide a child is adult enough for a short visit - not sure what age that would be.
I'd be very surprised if very young children and babies were permitted to spend long periods of time in zero g.
Surely - nobody would let a young child grow up, over period of years, in microgravity - or wish to carry a child in zero g, or give birth there.
But - the solution is surely not that hard - to use artificial gravity instead. Well - you'd still have to look into whether the coriolis effects matter for birth and child development - you'd think it would be a minor thing... - but would need to be sure...
Anyway - there are simple experiments we could do - in artificial gravity that nobody has yet done - we could have done them in the 1970s.
Two experiments basically - one is - to attach two habitats to each other - or even - just attach a spaceship to its final stage - and then set them spinning around each other.
The main question there is - how short can the tether be? The shorter it is, the faster the spin rate, and nobody knows what's the fastest spin rate humans can tolerate in zero g conditions.
The other one is to set up a human centrifuge inside of a spacestation - where you could experience full or partial gravity for just a few minutes, or say an hour or two, every day.
Then you could test the volunteers and see if this is enough to keep them healthy.
Just as we need oxygen in space, and CO2 scrubbing, and warmth (but not too hot) and normal atmospheric pressure - our bodies also need gravity.
Nobody would think of sending an astronaut into space without oxygen. So why assume it must be safe to live without gravity?
But then the big question is - how much gravity do we need for health - and what level of gravity is optimal. It might not be full g, might even be that we are healthier at a lower level of gravity. Or might be that we are only healthy at almost exactly full g.
Nobody knows how much gravity we need to be healthy - or what is the optimal level of gravity for health for a human.
And nobody knows if we need gravity 24/7 to be healthy or just need it for an hour or two a day (if so could use short arm centrifuges inside even quite a small space station / habitat).
There are a few ideas about possible answers t those questions from the Earth - but they rely on a fair bit of extrapolation. Especially - when you spin humans on the Earth - they always have full g acting along the spin axis - or in some direction anyway - on top of the artificial g effects.
This makes it impossible to have any reasonably accurate simulation of artificial g in space, on the Earth. The researchers have to make many assumptions - which they do on the basis of little by way of evidence, as no-one has yet done the analogous experiment in space.
I have written several articles on this for my Science20 column including this one:
Crew Tether Spin - With Final Stage - On Routine Mission To ISS - First Human Test Of Artificial Gravity?
So - would a baby or young child survive a year, or two years in zero g? At what age is it safe to do long period space flights, like several months, or a year - 5, 10, 15 18? I think the current state of knowledge would be framed around questions like that rather than whether a child would grow all the way to adulthood in zero g.
Humans have not evolved to carry a child or give birth or to grow up in anything except full gravity.
The human body doesn't have automatic systems to adjust the way it functions to cope with lower gravity - as enthusiasts seem to assume must be the case - why should they when no organism on Earth has ever needed to adapt to lower gravity?
When they first flew humans into space in the late 1960s - nobody knew if a human being could survive as much as an hour in zero g. That's one reason why Russia and the US did all those early tests with monkeys before they sent humans to orbit.
They found that we can survive not just an hour, but for days -and eventually they found, for weeks, and months, and finally - over a year. Nobody yet knows for sure if we can survive - that's adults - for two years in space in zero go or micro gravity..
So - all we can say with some confidence is that a healthy adult - who does a lot of exercise each day - may be able to last well over a year in space (but only a handful of people have tried so not really much data to go on to generalize to others).
We don't know yet if an adult can survive two years in space, even with vigorous exercise each day. As for young children - how can you know if they would survive even a year unless you try?
In addition to the problems with bone, there are many others
- Immune system doesn't work properly
- Because warm air no longer rises, our bodies get too hot
- Due to sweating, astronauts get deficient in magnesium
- Blood collects in the upper part of the body, without gravity to pull it down.
- Resting heart rate is higher
- Red blood cell count is less.
- Kidneys and other internal organs don't work in the same way
- Medicines taken orally don't work as well as they do on Earth.
- Astronauts lose their appetite and find it hard to drink enough - making them chronically dehydrated and malnourished
For all these reasons, pregnant women are not permitted to fly to the ISS because of possible damage to the fetus.
I don't know about children, if it has ever arisen, any plans to fly a child to the ISS. Maybe that won't happen until space tourism is well underay.
But I'd have thought it's not the best place to send very young children either - and especially babies. They would have all the same problems of blood pooling in the upper half of the body, faster resting heart beat, low red blood cell count, kidneys etc not working properly, poor appetite, and not drinking enough, and getting malnourished and dehydrated and deficient in magnesium.
Not exactly the recipe you want for a growing child :).
Presumably there is some point at which you decide a child is adult enough for a short visit - not sure what age that would be.
I'd be very surprised if very young children and babies were permitted to spend long periods of time in zero g.
Surely - nobody would let a young child grow up, over period of years, in microgravity - or wish to carry a child in zero g, or give birth there.
SOLUTION: ARTIFICIAL GRAVITY
But - the solution is surely not that hard - to use artificial gravity instead. Well - you'd still have to look into whether the coriolis effects matter for birth and child development - you'd think it would be a minor thing... - but would need to be sure...
Anyway - there are simple experiments we could do - in artificial gravity that nobody has yet done - we could have done them in the 1970s.
Two experiments basically - one is - to attach two habitats to each other - or even - just attach a spaceship to its final stage - and then set them spinning around each other.
The main question there is - how short can the tether be? The shorter it is, the faster the spin rate, and nobody knows what's the fastest spin rate humans can tolerate in zero g conditions.
The other one is to set up a human centrifuge inside of a spacestation - where you could experience full or partial gravity for just a few minutes, or say an hour or two, every day.
Then you could test the volunteers and see if this is enough to keep them healthy.
WHAT GRAVITY PRESCRIPTION DO WE NEED FOR HEALTH?
Just as we need oxygen in space, and CO2 scrubbing, and warmth (but not too hot) and normal atmospheric pressure - our bodies also need gravity.
Nobody would think of sending an astronaut into space without oxygen. So why assume it must be safe to live without gravity?
But then the big question is - how much gravity do we need for health - and what level of gravity is optimal. It might not be full g, might even be that we are healthier at a lower level of gravity. Or might be that we are only healthy at almost exactly full g.
Nobody knows how much gravity we need to be healthy - or what is the optimal level of gravity for health for a human.
WHAT ABOUT GRAVITY FOR A FEW HOURS A DAY, EVEN JUST 1 HOUR A DAY OR LESS?
And nobody knows if we need gravity 24/7 to be healthy or just need it for an hour or two a day (if so could use short arm centrifuges inside even quite a small space station / habitat).
There are a few ideas about possible answers t those questions from the Earth - but they rely on a fair bit of extrapolation. Especially - when you spin humans on the Earth - they always have full g acting along the spin axis - or in some direction anyway - on top of the artificial g effects.
This makes it impossible to have any reasonably accurate simulation of artificial g in space, on the Earth. The researchers have to make many assumptions - which they do on the basis of little by way of evidence, as no-one has yet done the analogous experiment in space.
I have written several articles on this for my Science20 column including this one:
Crew Tether Spin - With Final Stage - On Routine Mission To ISS - First Human Test Of Artificial Gravity?
About the Author
Robert Walker
Writer of articles on Mars and Space issues - Software Developer of Tune Smithy, Bounce Metronome etc.Studied at Wolfson College, Oxford
Lives in Isle of Mull
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