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Sex in space

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Sex in space is human sexual activity in weightless and extreme environments of space. The act of human intimacy, sexual intercourse, and procreation distinguished by the state of weightlessness (precluding artificial gravity) presents difficulties surrounding the performing of most sexual activities due to Newton's Third Law. The topic also includes conception and pregnancy in off-Earth environments.

The topic has been hotly disputed to clarify its potential impact on human beings in the isolated, confined, and hazardous environment of space. Past discussions often included attempts to determine speculations (e.g., about the STS-47 mission, on which married astronauts Mark C. Lee and Jan Davis flew), and even hoaxes, such as Document 12-571-3570.

Experts such as Princeton astrophysics professor Dr. J. Richard Gott consider humanity's expansion into space crucial to survival[1], but it was considered taboo for decades of space faring exploration history.[2][3]

As of 2009, with NASA planning long-term missions for lunar settlements with goals to explore and colonize space, the topic has taken its respected place in life sciences. Scientist Stephen Hawking publicly concurred in 2007 that possibly human survival itself will depend on successfully contending with the extreme environments of space.[4]

Debates

The debate of sex in space has turned from taboo[citation needed] to discussion of human procreation, relationships and reproduction in the extreme environments of space.

Discussions include the selection process and compatibility of crews for long term missions, calls and ethics of testing, and the effects of conception and embryonic gestation in microgravity.

It is assumed that the nervous and vestibular systems may fail to develop properly in individuals growing up in a low or a weightless environment, and that this would have implications for space-born humans making the trip to Earth[5] though the possibility of pregnancy in weightless environments in humans is currently uncertain.

United States

NASA has not issued any public statement as to whether or not anyone has had intercourse on space shuttle missions; a NASA spokesman (Bill Jeffs) has stated "We don't study sexuality in space, and we don't have any studies ongoing with that...If that's your specific topic, there's nothing to discuss".[6]

Soviet Union

A Soviet research facility in the field of space medicine, the Institute of Biomedical Problems (IBP), was involved for decades in the sex-related studies of living species in space. The Institute's interest in topic began in the early 1960s, when it noticed a difference in behavior between two dogs that had flown in space, Veterok and Ugolyok.[7] Ugolyok, unlike Veterok, maintained quite a healthy libido during his longer-than-average life span.

A 1976 article[8] reported that an exposure of Wistar rats to 22 days of weightlessness and other space flight factors induced no morphological changes in the spermatogenic tissue or disorders in the spermatogenic process of the rats, and the offspring of the male "space rats" was normal in all aspects.

Regarding human sex, Dr. Anna Goncharova said that if crew members are just colleagues and friends, one should never impose on them any intimate relations for the sake of their psycho-emotional stability.[9] It was rumored that the unhappy marriage of Soviet cosmonauts Valentina Tereshkova and Andrian Nikolayev was in part instigated by the pressure of the IBP.[10]

Effects of microgravity on human anatomy

Reproduction

Studies conducted on reproduction of mammals in microgravity include experiments with rats. Although the fetus developed properly, the rats that developed in microgravity lacked the ability to right themselves.[11]

The 2Suit

The 2suit (alternately 2-Suit or twosuit) is a garment designed to facilitate effortless intimacy in the weightless environments such as outer space, or on planets with low gravity. The flight garment, invented by Vanna Bonta[12][13][14], was one of the subjects of History Channel's The Universe "Sex in Space" documentary, September 13, 2008, which broke ground as the first documentary to open the topic of sex in space to a global mainstream audience. [15]

Popular culture

IMDB has the keyword "zero gravity sex" for movies, and the TV Tropes Wiki maintains an article on the depictions of space sex in media in general.

Spoof NASA document

The mission patch for STS-75, on which the hoax Document 12-571-3570 claimed space-sex experiments took place.

The difficulties microgravity poses for human intimacy were discussed in the anonymous fictional NASA Document 12-571-3570 in 1989, where the use of an elastic belt and an inflatable tunnel were proposed as solutions to these problems. A spoof mission patch and other documents were determined to be hoaxes.

In science fiction

In 1973, Isaac Asimov conjectured what sex would be like in the weightless environment of space. He anticipated some of the benefits of engaging in sex in an environment of microgravity.[16]


When Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins published his autobiography Carrying the Fire in 1974, a contemporary Time Magazine quoted the following passage:

Imagine a spacecraft of the future, with a crew of a thousand ladies, off for Alpha Centauri, with 2,000 breasts bobbing beautifully and quivering delightfully in response to every weightless movement . . . and I am the commander of the craft, and it is Saturday morning and time for inspection, naturally. [17]

Science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke was quick to point out in a letter to the editor that he had beaten Collins to addressing the matter in the novel Rendezvous with Rama (1973):[18]

Some women, Commander Norton had decided long ago, should not be allowed aboard ship; weightlessness did things to their breasts that were too damn distracting. It was bad enough when they were motionless; but when they started to move, and sympathetic vibrations set in, it was more than any warm-blooded male should be asked to take. He was quite sure that at least one serious space accident had been caused by acute crew distraction, after the transit of an unholstered lady officer through the control cabin.

The magazine followed this up by running a letter from one Sharon Smith, who agreed that the presence of breasts "bobbing weightlessly" would render spacemen unable to do their jobs and added that the space program must safeguard itself by the painful but necessary step of excluding men.[19]

In film

Wire-based special effects in Moonraker (1979).
  • The sci-fi horror film Supernova (2000) featured sex between several of the characters in zero-gravity areas of the Medical Ship.
  • Private Media Group filmed a brief scene for the space-themed pornographic film The Uranus Experiment in a Russian aircraft flying a parabolic track (similar to NASA's Vomit Comet). The Uranus Experiment features around 20 seconds of pornography actors Sylvia Saint and Nick Lang (who portray astronauts living on a space station) having sex in freefall. The scene was nominated for a Nebula Award, but did not win. [20]
  • In the novelization of Alien, Parker tells Brett about an episode of zero-G sex that went wrong.
  • In the movie Cube 2: Hypercube, two of the main characters have sexual intercourse while floating in the middle of a cube room

See also

References

  1. ^ "J. Richard Gott - Space Colonization Imperative". Idea Festival. 29 September 2008. Retrieved January 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Cite uses deprecated parameter |authors= (help)
  2. ^ The Universe: Sex in Space Explores Human Side of Space, by Darpana Kutty; Top News India 02 Dec. 2008
  3. ^ The Universe: Sex in Space Marks New Era For Mankind; History Channel, Dec 2008
  4. ^ Hui, Sylvia (13 June 2006). "Hawking Says Humans Must Colonize Space". Space.com/Associated Press. Retrieved january 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  5. ^ Jenks, Ken (January 22, 1996). "Sex in Space". Bway.net. Retrieved January 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  6. ^ "Sex in Space: Soon, If Not Already". FOXNews.com. July 8, 2008. Retrieved January 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  7. ^ Karash, Yuri (March 16, 2000). "Sex In Space: From Russia...with Love". Space.com. Retrieved January 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  8. ^ Plakhuta-Plakutina GI, Serova LV, Dreval' AA, Tarabrin SB. "Effect of 22-day space flight factors on the state of the sex glands and reproductive capacity of rats", Kosmicheskaya Bioligiya i Aviakosmicheskaya Meditsina. 1976 Sep-Oct;10(5):40-7. PMID 979120 Template:Ru icon
  9. ^ "Astro-naughtiness could cause problems in space". Newscientist.com. October 29, 2005. Retrieved January 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  10. ^ "Valentina Tereshkova: the Woman who Conquered the Space" Template:Ru icon
  11. ^ http://gateway.nlm.nih.gov/MeetingAbstracts/ma?f=102222743.html
  12. ^ Sex in space: how would it be? Rupee Times December 9, 2007 by Moin Ansari
  13. ^ Outerspace sex carries complications by Alan Boyle, Science editor MSNBC 24 July 2006
  14. ^ Spaced out on sex; The Times of India, 26 Jul 2006
  15. ^ History Channel to air special on 'sex in space' New Scientist December 17, 2008
  16. ^ Asimov, Isaac (January 1973). "Sex in a Spaceship". Sexology Magazine. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help) (Reprinted in Science Past – Science Future, 1975)
  17. ^ Sherrod, Robert (1974-08-19). "Lunar Caustic". Time. Retrieved 2008-08-17.
  18. ^ Clarke, Arthur C. (1974-09-23). "Letters to the Editor". Time.
  19. ^ Smith, Sharon (1974-10-07). "Letters to the Editor". Time.
  20. ^ "Zero Gravity Sex Film Up for Award", space.com, 16 May 2000
  • R. J. Levin (1989). Effects of space travel on sexuality and the human reproductive system. Journal of the British Interplanetary Society.
  • Robert A. Freitas Jr. Sex in Space. Sexology Today no. 48 (April 1983): 58-64.

External links

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