Sex in Space

This came across the UPI wire last week.
"Virgin Galactic, a New Mexico space tourism company, said it has received several requests from couples seeking to be the first to have sex in space."

This is a mind bending sentence. There are at least two concepts here that were strictly science fiction not so long ago.

First, the concept of a space tourism company. I'm sure you've all heard suggestions of this happening eventually, but Virgin Galactic is planning it's first 'space flight' in 2009. The future is here folks. We will have ordinary (albeit very rich) people flying into space in our lifetime.

Knowing this is about to happen, several couples have contacted Virgin Galactic representatives inquiring about sex in space, and one couple wants to book a charter flight so they can be the first couple to have intercourse in space and get into the Guinness Book of Records.

I find it staggering how easily we can skip over the seemingly mundane concept of a 'space tourism company' and jump right into the idea of humans having sex in space. But now that we are here, let's talk about what sex in space might be like.

Whatever it's like for the first couple, I can tell you it's going to be brief. The weightless portion of the first Virgin Galactic space flight will only last about five minutes. That's not going to count for much in my record book, but hey, you work with what you've got.

Eventually, there will be much longer flights and space hotels. Bigelow Aerospace envisions putting a hotel complex in orbit where people will be "recreating and having sex" within the next decade.

So what will sex in space be like? "The fantasy might be vastly superior to the reality," says NASA physician Jim Logan.

Sex will likely be hotter in space. There is no natural convection to carry away body heat in zero gravity. People also tend to perspire more in zero-G. The moisture generated while in the act could begin to pool into floating droplets of well, 'stuff'.

The lower blood pressure that humans experience in zero-G is not going to be very helpful to the men. Add the common effects of motion sickness to the equation and the reality of sex in space may be summed up in those famous words, "Houston, we have a problem."

Even assuming 'all conditions are go' choreographing sex will present all kinds of challenges. Remember, every action has an opposite and equal reaction. Lovers will need to be anchored to the floor, walls or each other to stay connected. To this end, special clothing is being designed, equipped with strategically placed Velcro strips and zippers. Honest, I couldn't even make this stuff up, but there are people out there planning for it!

Personally, I'm not interested in being the first. Five minutes just isn't long enough. But to have hot, wet, messy sex, floating weightlessly, while wearing Velcro straps and zippers sounds pretty wild. Where do I sign up?