salacious in outer space?

Wired reports about a story in a scholarly astronomy journal. The somewhat dry and scholarly title: “The Psychological and Social Effects of Isolation on Earth and in Space”. What all the mumbo jumbo means: it’s about the history of getting it on in space!
Damn, I knew there was more to those quiet scientist types than met the eye! 🙂
The details are kind of sketchy since it’s a second-hand source, but it doesn’t sound as though anyone’s actually *done* the nasty in outer space yet. Hmm. Do I believe this? Given the vast proliferation of people who can’t seem to help themselves from sampling the goodies at work? Nope. There’s a big difference between what people do and what people talk about. Sure, I think someone’s likely done the mambo already in space.
There’s a little more info in the article on zero-grav Earth experiments with regards to doing the slap and tickle. According to Wired, “experiments revealed that sex in zero gravity would be easier if a helpful astronaut was available to assist the copulating couple by holding one of the two participants in place”. OK, but who holds the astronaut in place?
One scientist’s take on it: keep the women out of the program. His reasoning? “[An] all-male crew is a good way to prevent jealousy, something he believes could be a problem with a mixed crew where not everyone was ‘participating.’ ”
Come on. Do you really think that will work? Hasn’t this guy heard what happens in all-male jails or even in the army (in its pre-women days) for that matter? Put enough men together without any women and they will still find a way to have sex.I find it hugely ironic that one gender is both the most homophobic (as a rule, and yes I realize generalizations aren’t always fair) and yet also (again generally) saddled with the highest sex drive. Where there’s a Will (or a Bob, or a George) there’s usually a way…
Now if you put a bunch of women up there, I bet we could abstain for years! Much to the disappointment of the all-male ground crew, I’d bet. 🙂