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pig sperm off to space |
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China is planning to study the effects of outer space on sperm by sending 40 grams of pedigree pig sperm to space on board the Shenzhou VI spacecraft in October.
Some of the sperm will be kept outside the spacecraft's biological capsule and some inside, according to China's Xinhua news agency.
Surviving sperm will be returned to earth and used to compare the effect of microgravity on the semen reports BBC
Agricultural experts hope to use the sperm to fertilise pig eggs back on earth and monitor the effects of the journey to space.
The pigs chosen are a breed called Rongchang, named after an area in the southwest of the country and famed for their physique and for the quality of their meat.
Sun Laiyan, chief of the China National Space Administration, earlier told China Daily that Shenzhou VI will carry two men into orbit for five or six days.
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