NASA, Roscomos and other respected space agencies have officially banned sex in space. Also, officially, no couple has ever vacated in space. Unofficially, NASA and the rest simply cannot confess to everything now, such actions would have already been carried out on board the ISS, there would even be some kind of fraternization between the peoples, American and Russian, it would go beyond handshakes and kisses on the cheeks. But no, if NASA says it’s just speculation, we’ll leave it at that.

Speaking of speculation, most sane people believe that astronauts Sally Ride and Steven Hawley, who secretly married before their 1991 space flight (otherwise they wouldn’t have allowed it), would have had it for some sort of experiment there, and some even a little more unorthodox. But as I said, NASA refused to provide details and said to mind their own business, which we also recommend.

What interests us today, in the context of increasingly heated discussions in the scientific community on the mentioned topic, is why such prohibitions exist. Then how long will they last. Of course, with the way things are going, with a permanent base on the moon being built, future manned missions to Mars, ever longer space travel, but especially with the advent of space tourism, one would have to be naive to believe that there won’t be Don’t be by those who try thrills where… no one has gone before.

In fact, this is an aspect that many overlook when talking about humanity as an interplanetary species. It is nice to imagine that we will go to establish colonies on other planets, grow fractal rapeseed and make space children, forgetting about some technical details. In particular, how we will do it and whether it is possible. As for sex on other planets, let’s not forget that we haven’t left this ancestral one either, but we’re just getting started! And about this constructive impulse, I propose to discuss several aspects.

Why sex in space is truly an extreme adventure

For example, the French company (ApoteoSurprise) offers unforgettable experiences. They say that in 2025, you and your partner will be able to take an unforgettable week-long trip around the moon with checked luggage and all the necessary equipment from Cape Canaveral, Florida. It costs just $145 million, but the unique thing is that you can also propose to the music of Frank Sinatra, and with the moon showing through the porthole. Now, if everything went well up to this point and if the couple said “Yes!”, then it’s hard to imagine that you will spend a whole week reading Minuleska and hearing “Uhăi, bade!”. It’s just a marriage proposal. You have to somehow consume the moment while it’s hot.

In this regard, the French company omitted several aspects in the message. First, most people who travel in space suffer from a milder or more severe form of anxiety. And we are talking about carefully trained cosmonauts, not ordinary tourists. It is not easy to realize that you are flying in a cannon to such an environment as space. That’s why some astronauts wear special diapers during takeoff, landing and spacewalks (not so with exits, if you stop at the French agency’s proposal, but still).

And anxiety comes with a little chemistry. Specifically, your brain senses a threat and sends information to your adrenal glands. By default, it boosts adrenaline. The heart beats faster, blood flows to the muscles, and the liver releases a large amount of glucose. The blood in the digestive system also decreases, and the vessels there narrow. In Romanian, you feel a big hole in your stomach. Digestion slows down and the sphincter relaxes. In other words, if you feel sick to your stomach or want to throw up, feelings that many of you experience in stressful situations, you don’t have to go to space to convince yourself. And now, to be honest, it’s not the most romantic thing that can happen to you when you want to experience a sensual moment, let alone have someone press on your stomach.

Newton, sex and science

That’s another seven days, say, instead of the 40 minutes it currently takes to travel to the edge of space. You have time to recover. Here is the second aspect that you should not have missed in school. Namely Newton’s laws. Or more precisely, the third law of motion, set forth by an English physicist. And this law says the following: when one body acts on another body with a force (called the action force), the second body also acts on the first with a force (called the reaction force) of the same magnitude and direction, but in the opposite sense. .

In other words, being weightless (you didn’t miss that point, did you?) you risk banging your head on all the junk in the space capsule and looking like Chip and Dale. You have nothing to do, so you discover that earthly sex is an equation in which gravity plays a major role. For the most accurate comparison, try to imagine having sex while skating. Apparently, some thought about this stage and created a so-called suit for two. Put on a suit, and from there it’s up to everyone to do what they can. In this case, imagine that you are having sex while skating together in a sleeping bag. Madness!

There would also be the option of being hung from ropes attached to the wall that could get caught if you like rougher, more BDSM stuff, that’s your business, we don’t care about your hidden passions. But honestly, for $145 million, you’re better off drinking that money than… Anyway.

The third technical aspect also relates to organic chemistry. And what these companies offering space tourism and sex don’t tell you is that there are some changes going on in your body in zero gravity. And what you are interested in is about blood circulation. Due to the lack of gravity, blood does not flow as easily to the extremities. As a result, it goes more to the head and chest. You got it, right? It is about a certain part of the body that really needs blood for proper functioning. Otherwise, as they say, screwed up! No one is saying that it is impossible, but it is obvious that it will not be easy. And this applies to women as well.

Returning to weightlessness, one more aspect should be mentioned. But let’s detour a bit. You’ve seen how sex scenes end in movies, right? When the two of them lie down on the pillow, tired and happy, with a blanket pulled around their necks, some even get up, get dressed and suddenly go to work. If you haven’t been brought into this world by UFOs, you know it isn’t. In the movies, nobody says anything about towels, napkins, showers, etc. Of course, it’s not romantic anymore.

But imagine what it would be like to live in outer space the next moment! At 0 gravity, all the liquids are flying out of the capsule like crazy, and you two pigeons are running around and cleaning the shuttle for hours. And for what? for “bam bam thank you ma’am“? So it’s not romantic anymore? Those would be, in a nutshell, the disadvantages of sex in space.

Sex in space can be very serious

Yes, but NASA and other space agencies have not banned sex strictly for the reasons mentioned. Or only from them. There are others. And the most serious would be a space charge or in conditions of microgravity (see the case of the lunar base).

No one knows how it will affect the fetus. In space, without a magnetic field like Earth’s to protect you, the radiation wreaks havoc. As I said, this does not fit into the same equation with good fetal development and normal pregnancy. You honestly wouldn’t want to be the main character in the new Alien movie. It’s the same with microgravity, because no one knows how it affects the load. I pray that the low orbit that the International Space Station is in is a little safer, that you are protected by the Van Allen Belt.

Until now, both the Russians and the Americans conducted experiments on gestation in space. But only on mouse embryos or fertilized eggs of frogs, salamanders, sea urchins or insects. And the results were only partially crowned with success. For example, gravity plays an important role in the correct position of the fetus and the development of cells where they should be. In microgravity or zero gravity, there were obstacles to the ability of cells to become what they were meant to be.

It is true that the cubs looked normal, but none were allowed to live more than a few weeks. And an important fact related to birth in space was that, for example, the babies did not know how to move when they arrived on Earth. Simply put, they would need an exoskeleton to move around because they were born in a completely different environment. Another experiment conducted in 2017 showed that human germ cells taken into space have a higher rate of degradation than on Earth. And DNA fragmentation, no matter how you say it, is a big cause for concern.

In general, you understand. No one yet knows what will happen if a woman becomes pregnant in space, let alone if she gives birth there. All research into the phenomenon is still in its early stages, so the scientific community has begun to comment. As for the experience of sex in space, even with all the contraceptives, it’s up to you if you’re going to try. That is unless they force you to sign a contract guaranteeing you don’t do anything stupid while in space, which has also been rumored recently.

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