Hello,
I am a newbie here so apologies if I flouted any conventions here.
I am trying to do some research (for an idea for a script/novel) on astronauts
who have had children AFTER lunar missions.
I know that only about twelve US astronauts have actually visited the moon and about ten have been in lunar orbit. Does anyone know if any of these men have fathered children (in the conventional manner or otherwise) after these missions?
What would people think would be the implications if any, if the children fathered by these astronauts showed any anomalies?
I have no opinion I'm just researching an idea, part of a plot for a short story etc. (perhaps an "X-Files genre).
Again I am not here to waste peoples time so any serious thoughts ?

Kind Regards

I haven't done research myself, but I don't see why their children would have any abnormalities whatsoever o_O

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Welcome Lightcruiser. Sorry, I don't have an answer either. A similar question might be to ask about astronauts that have been on long duration Earth orbit missions, like the International Space Station. I would guess they would actually have a higher radiation exposure, given durations in space of up to a year.

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At night the stars put on a show for free (Carole King)

One Earth, One Sky - IYA 2009
All moderation in purple

Hey Lightcruiser.

I have no data for you either. But I think this would fall under a genotype-phenotype argument. If an astronaut who, exposed during mission(s) to zero-G effects and possible radiation had viable offspring afterwards, would have kids similar to himself, pre-mission. Unless you think there's some chance that cosmic radiation altered DNA (hello, Reed Richards !), but this would more likely result in non-viable offspring, or one with defects.

Anything else would tend to follow an argument of Jean Baptiste Lamarck, an early proponent of evolution. His flawed reasoning was that changes and characteristics acquired in the lifetime of the parent would be passed to the next generation (ex. a blacksmith who hammered iron all his life would have kids with enormous biceps).

Radiation likely wouldn't cause sterility or deformation in offspring. The total radiation dose for an Apollo astronaut on one Apollo mission was approximately that received in one chest X-ray. The only radiation related illness reported in Apollo astronauts is a high incidence of cataracts.

Exposure to microgravity likely would have no effect on reproduction in any way. Astronauts are in free fall, and no ill effects are reported among those who, er, fall off of things. Like BASE jumpers.

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Here's a nice article on radiation effects and health concerns for flightcrews on passenger airlines. No mutant offspring, alas.
http://www.who.int/ionizing_radiatio..._Radiation.pdf

There is only one astronaut who fathered a child after a lunar mission that is Bill Anders. His daughter was born about 3 1/2 years after the mission.

T.K. Mattingly's wife had a children about a month after the mission ended. So conception occured prior to the mission.

I don't think I'm derailing this thread when I ask...

What would it take to have "mutant offspring" anyways? I felt that "radiation" was always a silly thing in movies; it's so magical -- able to turn straight-A students in bikers that kill people, able to turn babies into monsters, etc. But how much of it could be possible?

__________________
"A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right." -- Thomas Paine

Being intelligent is not a felony. But most societies evaluate it as at least a misdemeanor. -- Heinlein

Creationists make it sound as though a "theory" is something you dreamt up after being drunk all night. -- Isaac Asimov

Valentina Tereshkova had a child after her three-day space flight.

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I'm not an expert, but I think the stuff in movies approaches nonsense. I think it has been shown that radiation can damage DNA. But you would have to enough of a dose to damage the DNA in the sperm or egg producing cells, but not kill the rest of the person (hard to be a parent when you are dead). Certainly possible, but I'm not sure it is likely.

If that happened, I would guess the damage/mutation would be random. Random changes in DNA are most likely to either be so small as to unnoticed or to be harmful (now you can't make a protein you need). The odds that you would get random changes in DNA such that the baby had six arms and heat vision approach zero very rapidly. It would be like make random changes in a Shakespeare play and coming up with "Guys and Dolls".

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At night the stars put on a show for free (Carole King)

One Earth, One Sky - IYA 2009
All moderation in purple

Yeah, movies are silly.

DNA alteration or Base/reproductive cell modification through radiation damage would likely result in a few of the following scenarios:

Bad sperm/Genetic material (i.e. fecondation not even possible)

Micro-mutations (some stuff so minor it doesn't even show up)

Macro-mutations (Exceedingly rare (as in one in a quadrillion), usually results in natural abortive processes after hours/days/weeks)

Basically anything that would be bad enought to produce freaks of nature just makes it almost impossible to go through the coutnelss redundancy checks the cells do when combining the chromosomes from the male and the female and onset cellular multiplication. The chances of something happenning with any noticeable effect is so exceedingly small that I would discount it altogether.

I think you will have better chance in checking for fertility/parenthood of workers exposed to Uranium ores or Heavy Radiation exposed workers. Astronauts I am afraid is too small a subset to see something already marginal.

Hope this helps

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I knew a man who survived Little Boy (Hiroshima). His oldest child, a daughter, was born with one eye (still had the eye socket) and two vaginas. His second child, a boy, was born perfectly normal. He would not discuss after I asked him if the two were related (daughter's mutation and his exposure to radiation).

I find it amazing that only ONE astronaut has fathered a child after a mission.
My own thoughts were what if a child was fathered say within a 10 to 24 months after a mission.
Would the fact that the father had been on a lunar mission prior to conception make any difference to his sperm and DNA?

Also is Bill Ander' daughter unique because she is the only human to have ever lived whose genetic father has been in space? (Did he perform a lunar surface mission ?).

Anders was on the Apollo 8 lunar orbit mission.

Most of the astronauts were in their 30's or early 40's when they flew the moon missions. Most already had children before the mission.

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You could, if you want to move your story further in time connect this to our return to the moon. Let's say we get some intence radiation due to some flare activity and your astronout are exposed to this, like the ship got protection but something happen so the protection fails. There could also be some damage on the outside that needs to be fixed but the robot supposed to be used for this doesn't work for some reason so our hero has to suit up.

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That's nice. I like the thought of future Space Exploration. I'm all about experimentation, not to sound harsh, but I'd sign up in a heart beat.

An interesting conspiracy theory here : The lunar mission astronauts were not "permitted" to have children after performing lunar landings . In case certain groups viewed these offspring as "mutant" or "alien" or perhaps a new stage in evoloution!
So kill me for being over imaginative but look at Ron L Hubbard (scientologist who beleives he was visited by venetians!).

Must avoid posting - it got me permanently banned pre-BAUT.

I would be interested to know if there has been conceived and born, a mammal, reptile or insect in space.

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Round...everything is always round!

The only reason I could see why it could happen, would be due to exposure to radiation if shielding failed. I think the person who started this topic has watched Fantastic Four recently.

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I echo this , now how would one go about finding out about these "ET's" ?