Jokes aside, I'm sure a lot of people have thought about it. People have been flying into space for over sixty years. Has anyone had sex in space? Seriously. Scientists gather aboard the International Space Station for one purpose: to conduct experiments in microgravity. How about sexual experimentation? Was it or not?
Alas, the "official" answer of all organizations, one way or another tied to space: "no" or "no comment." But that's not the whole story. Sex on a space shuttle or in a Soyuz capsule would be unlikely, since 5-7 cosmonauts trapped in a tight space … No, this is not the situation. There simply cannot be any intimacy. But the ISS is a completely different matter.
Married couples have traveled to space before and spent time aboard the ISS. The STS-47 crew included married couple Ian Davis and Mark Lee, who mysteriously declined to be interviewed after the flight. But whether they had sex in orbit remained the subject of rumors and innuendo. It looks like the Americans in space have not yet done this.
But what about the Russians?
The Russian space program was slightly more risky (and uninhibited) than the US during the Cold War. Many people associated with the Russian space program have said in subsequent interviews that they would be surprised if the Russians hadn't already been in space. Unfortunately, much of our past space program is still shrouded in secrecy.
Sex in space may seem exotic or even unique fun, if you give free rein to your imagination, but in reality everything will be exactly the opposite - doing it in zero gravity can be very difficult, inconvenient, unpleasant.
Here's what NASA physician James Logan thinks:
“It's a pretty messy environment. For every action there will always be an equal reaction. Sex in zero gravity will have to be rehearsed with a choreographer, otherwise there will be only disappointment, says Logan. - As for the thoughts of those who plan to migrate into space and found a self-sufficient civilization outside the Earth, space doctors also have something to say about this. Will the embryo of the fetus attach to the wall of the uterus properly? Would the threat of ectopic pregnancy be more likely in zero gravity? How will accelerating reentry affect the mother and fetus? How will the increased levels of radiation in Earth's orbit affect the first cell division, will it lead to problems? It may be easy to conceive a child in orbit, but we know too little to allow ourselves a chance and risk the health and happiness of the child."
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What about masturbation in space? After all, astronauts spend a very long time there.
But this is not only easier, but moreover - at least one mission doctor recommended that astronauts in orbit self-indulge in order not to get problems with the prostate. Apollo 11 command module pilot Michael Collins wrote in his book on the Skylab mission: “One doctor recommended regular masturbation, but Joe Kerwin (Skylab crew member) ignored the advice. There was no sex at all on Skylab. In his opinion, any openness in space matters should only be encouraged.
However, one can argue that there was sex in space. Organizations associated with long-term space flights simply do not want to bring such experiments to the public. But so many years have passed. Interest in space exploration grew and fell.
One of NASA's commanders, Alan Poindexter, responded to a reporter who asked him about the implications "when astronauts dare in the absence of strangers around," that sexual intercourse is not permitted on the International Space Station.
“We're professionals,” Poindexter said. “We treat each other with respect and work well together. Personal relationships are not a problem. We don't have them, and we don't need them."
"There is no official or unofficial evidence that there have been cases of sexual intercourse or sexual experiments in space," Valery Bogomolov, then deputy director of the Moscow Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences, once said in response to a question from Interfax. "In any case, this has not happened in the history of Russian or Soviet space exploration."
Bogomolov also mentioned American shura-muras, albeit without reason:
“As far as American space exploration is concerned, well, I just have no information to categorically deny it. Only gossip that shouldn't be trusted."
But those in the know say that NASA's astronauts were likely as chaste as their Russian counterparts in orbit. NASA does not appear to prohibit overt sex in orbit, but the astronaut's code of conduct calls for "trusting relationships" and "professional standards" that must be maintained at all times.
"I am not aware of NASA's official policy on this," said former astronaut Leroy Chiao, a veteran of four space missions from 1994 to 2005. - When I was there, it was not discussed, it was understandable. Nobody took it out, they just didn't think about it."
Despite the emergence of multi-gender crews in 1983, NASA astronauts behaved in orbit as Chiao described.
“As for the fact that someone in space might have had sex, I seriously doubt that,” he added. “After all, men are always men. And if someone had sex, then this guy probably would not have been able to resist and would have blabbed to someone, in the end everyone would know about it."
Another astronaut, Richard Mullein, answers these questions with no hesitation in expression.
- Does it get up more often in weightlessness? The interviewer asks.
- One of the physiological changes that occur in zero gravity is that fluids, including, of course, blood, are distributed more evenly throughout the body. The ankles, hips and waist become thinner, while the ribcage and busts in women become larger. Unfortunately, the face swells too. If you look closely at the astronauts, you will notice that they are swollen. It happens that the head hurts a little. But one of the benefits of all this …
- Swollen member ?!
- A couple of times I woke up with such a strong erection that I could drill kryptonite with my penis.
- Did you try to hide it? Or no one pays attention because it happens to everyone?
- Well, in my case, my head was very busy with other thoughts: "I have to control the manipulator arm, and there is a satellite worth a billion dollars, and it would be better for me not to talk about it." Trust me: if you want everything to fall quickly, start thinking about a billion dollar satellite. There are physiological prerequisites for intimate contacts in orbit.
- Has anyone ever had sex in space?
- I can say for sure that on the shuttles where men and women flew together, this did not happen, because there is nowhere to be alone. Theoretically, you could sit in an airlock, but everyone would understand what exactly you are doing there. You are not going to go into outer space, so you have no reason to be there.
If you think that "Houston" is watching astronauts around the clock and that the secret could not have been kept anyway, then no: astronauts control cameras on the space station and can turn them off. And one day it will definitely happen (if it has not happened yet, how do we know for sure). Okay, space shuttles - the crew spent several weeks there. Okay, space stations - a typical watch on the ISS lasts no more than six months. But manned missions to Mars will last for years, and abstinence for such a long time will be a serious challenge for most people. A test that cannot but fail.
In addition, sex is likely to become a regular part of life on a lunar or Mars base, as well as on tourist flights with the help of organizations such as Bigelow Aerospace or Virgin Galactic. Richard Branson even used the promise of privacy in one of Virgin's ad campaigns.
The development of private flights will certainly give people the opportunity to do this in space: in orbit, on an asteroid, on a lunar base, upon re-entry into the atmosphere, in a stratospheric balloon, under the scorching sun on Jupiter, at the bottom of Titan's methane ocean … Everywhere. People are rarely shy when it comes to choosing a location and scenery for love affairs.
ILYA KHEL