How astronauts could have sex in space as physicist says it would be like 'skydiving'
It's all been leading up to this, hasn't it?
Right from the first moment that humans looked up at the stars and wondered what it would be like to float among them, we've been locked on an inexorable path towards wondering what it'd be like to f**k in space.
If it's good enough, then sex can already be an out-of-this-world experience, but there are some people who'd prefer to guarantee it regardless of how well they perform.
That might be just as well, since apparently a spot of intergalactic banging might not be as fun as it sounds.
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At time of writing, as far as we know nobody has ever actually had sex in space since the astronauts are there to work and not be getting it on with each other.
Whether NASA would tell us if they did or just keep it to themselves and hope nobody blabbed is another matter, but for now let's assume nobody's been searching for the zero-g spot.
It's certainly not for lack of hoping, there have been plans in the past to send some people into space to have sex, but it seems that there's not enough funding to boldly go where no one has gone before.
Meanwhile, to figure out how it'd actually work, The Sun (the newspaper, not the star at the centre of our solar system) once asked a physicist how it'd be possible.
Physicist and astronomer John Millis said back in 2018 that it was 'not impossible' that people could have sex in space, and compared it to having sex while skydiving.
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. A shared sleeping bag, or similar, would perhaps be the most useful."
Beyond the need to seal yourself up in a sleeping bag to avoid pushing your partner away with every movement, he also said that in micro-gravity the blood rushes to your head and not the genitals, thus it'd be more difficult for people to become aroused.
He added that testosterone levels drop in space, lowering sex drive in men, while all the bodily fluids involved in sex would pool and float around the cabin.
Sex in space is certainly doable, but it sounds like we'd need to figure out artificial gravity before you can really unleash your inner Captain Kirk.
Topics: Space, Science, Sex and Relationships
Joe Harker