Topics: International Space Station, NASA, Space, Science, Weird
Life in orbit raises plenty of questions beyond the scientific, such as ‘What does take-off really feel like?’, ‘How do astronauts sleep when there’s no such thing as up or down?’, and, inevitably, ‘Could intimacy ever happen beyond Earth’s atmosphere?’
Well, we've now had that final question answered... somewhat.
Nicole Stott, a retired NASA astronaut, engineer, and aquanaut, has spent over 100 days in space, including a three-month stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
As part of LADbible’s Honesty Box series, she answered some of the most curious questions about life in microgravity: from the reality of orbital hygiene to what space actually smells like.
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But this one question in particular continues to capture the public imagination.
We’ve seen previous comments from experts breaking down the possibility of sex in space before, but Stott seemed a bit more optimistic.
Before tackling that question, earlier in the video she reminded viewers how different even simple actions become in orbit. Astronauts are in constant freefall, 'floating around the planet, just effortlessly falling around the planet'.
Nothing stays still, and movement has to be carefully controlled in a weightless environment where ‘you can be floating in any direction.’
Other experts have noted that this lack of gravity makes coordination between two people far more complex than it would be on Earth. Without some way to anchor themselves, astronauts would simply drift apart.
Then, at around the four-minute and 20-second mark of her interview, when Stott was asked directly, ‘can you have sex in space?’ Her answer was refreshingly straightforward.
She said: "Probably. I don't think there's anything that would physically prevent you from having sex in space. I don't know that anybody has while they were there.
"I did not… And if somebody wants to have sex in space, I think they'll figure out how to have sex in space."
Stott didn’t claim it had ever happened, only that physics wouldn’t make it impossible.
She compared the idea to moving through water, saying to 'think about floating and swimming in a pool, you can have sex there', essentially summarizing that if people can figure out how to have intercourse in unusual places like that, it’s a certainty others could figure out how to join the million-mile-high club, too.
Still, comments don’t amount to a NASA endorsement, as space agencies maintain strict professional codes and privacy is virtually non-existent on the ISS.
On the other hand, if push ever came to shove and astronauts in space somehow ended up being the only surviving humans from Earth, Stott’s insights give a bit of hope should an apocalypse ever occur.
