Sex in space – what would it be like?
Valery Bogomolov, deputy director of the Moscow-based Institute of Biomedical Problems, recently announced that over the 50 years that Russians have been in space, there have been no documented records of the cosmonauts experimenting with sex while in orbit. Does this mean that there can be no thousand-mile-high club?
However, there may be some hope for American astronauts. "As for American space exploration, well, I just don't have the information to categorically deny that," Bogomolov told the Interfax news agency. He admitted that he had heard "anecdotal rumors" but that such claims weren't worth trusting.
So what would sex be like in space? This is a question pondered by many, and though there is no concrete evidence, experts have weighed in on the subject. While the idea of inter-cosmic intercourse is quite romantic, many believe that there would be serious drawbacks to weightless intercourse.
Among those disadvantages include space sickness, the difficulty of positioning and staying in place, and the fact that anti-gravity and bodily fluids are typically not a good match, according to MSNBC.
Physician Jim Logan of NASA told the news source that investigation into galactic love making was needed, particularly as humans advance further into the unknowns of space. However, he doesn't expect it to be easy.
"It's a pretty messy environment, when you think about it," he told the news provider in 2006. "And for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. However…I can well imagine how compelling, inspiring, and quite frankly stimulating choreographed sex in zero-G might be in the hands of a skilled and talented cinematographer with appropriate lighting and music."
It sounds like condoms and other safe sex techniques would be even more necessary in space than they are here on Earth. After all, condoms are the best way to contain bodily fluids, which can assist in STD prevention.
Additionally, it would be important to use condoms in space as a form of pregnancy prevention, as a zero-gravity environment could have detrimental effects on a baby in the womb. After 26 weeks of gestation, fetuses would likely need some gravity to keep them safe.
While sex in space is a nice fantasy, for now we'll have to settle with doing the nasty here on solid ground.