Since the Apollo astronauts passed through the radiation belts and that is something the HBers say would have been lethal. I was wondering did any of the astronauts have children after returning from the moon?

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The only one that I know who had a child near the time of the moon landings was Tom Mattingly. I'm not sure if his son was born pre or post Apollo 16.

It wouldn't have been harmful-there was sufficient protection on the Apollo spacecraft.

To be honest, if Apollo astonauts had post-lunar kids, the HBers would just say that NASA faked the fatherhood. That's a lot easier to fake than a lunar landing. I personally am not going up to Neil Armstrong or Buzz Aldrin and ask for a sample for genetic testing. ops:

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Stu Roosa's Moon Tree Seeds went through the Van Allen two times.
The seed was grown in many places. Haven't heard yet of mutant trees doing strange things...

Harald

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"Flying in space is risky business, but just staying on this planet is risky business too." - John Young, astronaut

That's because they never went through the Van Allen belts or to the Moon, because it was a hoax. At least that's what the HBs will say.

Incidentally, radiation exposure won't neccesarily make you sterile, or impair your fertility, or cause you to produce mutant children. So no Apollo babies are likely to have superpowers, I'm afraid. It may happen, but it's totally up to chance. In general, a sufficient dose to cause fertility problems should cause other problems too, especially with men, since sperm get replaced regularily.

Actually wouldn't they, if anything, argue that the kids were proof the astronauts had *not* gone through the Van Allen belts?

It takes 3.5 Sv to permanently sterilize a man. That's a pretty hefty dose-- it's within spitting distance of the LD50.

I'm curious -- anyone know what the HBs have to say about the space station regularly passing through the South Atlantic Anomaly? Is the ISS also a hoax?

Re astronaut procreation - I know NASA covered every possible contingency, but why the need for protection on the spacecraft for an all male crew?



(Ducks & runs)

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