A RUSSIAN cockroach called Nadezhda (Hope) has given birth to the first creatures ever conceived in space, scientists in Voronezh, central Russia, said today.
Nadezhda conceived during the Foton-M bio-satellite September 14-26 flight.
“We recently received the first batch of 33 cockroaches conceived in microgravity,” Dmitry Atyakshin said.
Though the newborn creatures already eat and drink respectively well, microgravity conditions may have had an impact on the natural darkening of their chitinous carapace, a part of a cockroach’s exoskeleton.