In speaking on the supposed infamous #143071792 NASA report about “Sex in Space,” science author Mary Roach disputes not only the report’s existence but the actual idea of humping off-planet (see the video here.) But has man (and woman) gone where no man (or woman) has gone before? Has NASA managed a decades-long cover-up that writers/speakers like Roach simply dissuade us from? Just what is the skinny on making the beast-with-two-backs in what scientists call ‘micro-gravity?’ Does even “self-stim” as NASA terms it (and that really is a NASA term) exist for our solo men and women who are up there for prolonged periods of time?

None of our intrepid space explorers are speaking. NASA even sent the married, Jan Davis and Mark Lee up, but we can only speculate if they continued on in their marital unions while encapsulated. And by all accounts the hindrances, even the actual dangers of trying to do it in space are many, so maybe there really has been no off-Earth bumping uglies after all?

Here are some reasons why scientists say sex in space is no good:

• Low gravity=little rockets stalling. With the regulation of blood flow certainly impeded in lower gravity blood has a hard time rushing to you-know-where; erections simply do not happen that easily, if at all.
• Too much sweat-While we may welcome sweat and other bodily secretions when having sex, such exertion in space would build-up a sweat layer around one’s body rarely experienced. Being so sticky and wet, as NASA advises, would be uncomfortable to an off-putting degree.
• One action leads to a big reaction (and not the kind you want.) In a micro-gravity environment even the smallest thrust would send the object you are thrusting against sailing across the small enclosed space. Two people giving as good as they got would simply cause too much bouncing around.
• It’s just too cramped in here. Yes, most of us have managed a little nookie ‘round the old steering wheel, but doing-it in a space capsule, talk about cramped!
• Got to keep one’s mind on the job. This flying spaceships thing is no easy task. Above all other above considerations about engaging in sex in space men and women traveling through the great beyond, even to inner space, simply have their minds engaged on daily chores that could mean the difference between their life and death. How’s that for a foreplay killer?

It’s a nice fantasy of course and Captain Kirk seemed to be getting enough for any of us-and then some-but just maybe NASA isn’t lying and nobody has managed “interstellar relations.”

Yet.

Want to know what it takes to have Sex in Space? Enter our immersive Exhibit, take a ride on a Rocket, enter the Space Station and explore different worlds!

Primary Researcher – Dr. Alex Layendecker
Advisor – Dr. Victoria Hartmann
Space Dock Door Engineer – Jessica Harris