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Topics: Science, International Space Station, Sex and Relationships
Britt Jones
Topics: Science, International Space Station, Sex and Relationships
There are many things we think about when it comes to astronauts and space, but what about sex?
This topic is quite interesting, and the answer is even better, albeit weird.
As NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore were supposed to be at the International Space Station for 10 days and are probably going to be up there until February of next year thanks to some malfunctions, some people's minds have wandered to the prospect of getting jiggy in outer space.
It’s a good question.
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However, while sex on Earth while trapped together seems only natural, space could be a completely different scenario.
With so many unanswered questions about how it’d work, experts have had to weigh in to provide you dirty people with all the information you need.
Firstly, the logistics would be hard to navigate, especially when it comes to thrusting without gravity.
John Millis, a physicist and astronomer, told The Sun Online in 2018 that sex in space would be like ‘skydiving’, and even though it’s hard, it’s ‘not impossible.’
He said: “The issues surrounding the act all revolve around the freefall, micro-gravity, environment experienced by astronauts. Imagine engaging in sexual activity while skydiving — every push or thrust will propel you in opposite directions.
“Even the lightest touch can make it difficult to stay in contact if both persons are not properly anchored. The astronauts would need to brace themselves against the space station and even each other.”
Getting an erection could prove tricky too, as he explained that blood rises to your head instead of your genitals in micro-gravity environments.
Because the area causes low blood pressure, it can actually cause a penis to shrivel up and testosterone to decrease.
The gravity issue would also cause a mess as you’d have fluids flying all over the place.
With so many unanswered questions about how it’d work, experts have had to weigh in to provide you dirty people with all the information you need.
NASA technician Harry Stine wrote in his book Life in Space that it would be 'easier when a third person assisted by holding one of the others in place'.
Millis once told Glamour that a special contraption could be invented to help, saying: “That could be a jungle gym–type apparatus that allows people to position themselves appropriately to a strap system that holds them together or clothing that accomplishes the same thing.
“Imaginative minds will create something ingenious, I’m sure.”
Even though it’s never been confirmed that anyone has had sex in space, Paul Root Wolpe, a former NASA Bioethicist, told DW that if they wanted to get jiggy, they’d ‘have to get creative in this space'.
He said: “Everything on the walls of the space station is covered in Velcro, so you could take advantage of that by velcroing one partner to the wall.
“We don’t realize how much gravity assists us in the act of intercourse. Sex involves pressure. In space, without any counterforce, you end up constantly pushing your partner away from you.”