Out-of-this-world sex could jeopardise missions to the moon and Mars, according to a top-level panel of scientists. It recommends that NASA should get to grips with the problem by studying sex and romantic entanglements.
鈥淲ith the prospect of a very long-term mission, it鈥檚 hard to ignore the question of sexuality,鈥� says Lawrence Palinkas, a medical anthropologist at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and an author of the report published by the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS).
During an eight-month space-station simulation on Earth in 2000, a Russian man twice tried to kiss a female Canadian researcher, prompting the installation of locks between the Russian and international crews鈥� compartments.
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鈥淧eople are very primitive in their emotions around partnering and sex,鈥� says Carol Rinkleib Ellison, a psychologist specialising in sexuality and intimacy based in Oakland, California, who was not part of the NAS panel.
But sex may also benefit missions by creating a sense of stability or normalisation, Palinkas says. And with a round trip to Mars likely to take at least 30 months, sex or masturbation could help alleviate boredom and anxiety on the long journeys, Ellison says.
NASA should consider the practical issues of out-of-this world sex, says Ellison. 鈥淗ow do you have sex in weightlessness? And there鈥檚 a lack of privacy 鈥� often they鈥檙e monitoring pulse rate and temperature. I don鈥檛 know how that would be handled.鈥�
