Chace Harmon Biology 1010 11/28/13 Mrs.

Luz Tuesday and Thursday 1:00-2:20

Space Sex

The problem that NASA seems to be having with deciding if sex in space should be observed and analyzed is not the only question there is. Ethical problems are arising and even safety issues. According to Frank Sulzman who is an employee of NASA, they are worried that if sex were to be studied in space it would take away from the engineering side of the spaceflight. Frank did also bring up that there have been many other studies of sex when people do travels to places like Antarctica. Sara Wheeler who is the author of Terra Incognita: Travels of Antarctica talks about life in Antarctica mostly in the winter. It is dark all day and all night and is an average -100 degrees Fahrenheit. She talked about how when there is no work to be done, what is the problem with having sex. And sometimes if they had a behavioral scientist with them they would make a study out of it. If it didnt pose a threat with the studies those were doing in space then why would it be an issue for two people to have sexual interactions in space and to do some behavioral study about it? In the case study one of the most intriguing arguments that is brought up is the travel to Mars that we are trying to prepare for. They say it will take about two and a half years. Which would be plenty of time for studies to be done of sexual relations in space. Dr. Anja

Geitmann from Montreal University addressed this issue with another question. Could pregnancy and conception happen in space without any negative results. They found that cell growth could be harmed and abnormal if it were take place in space. When looking at the option of studying sex in space you need to think about what we all want our kids to be aware of. What can be the result of sex? Not just pregnancy but emotional attachments, problems with an astronauts feelings in space could jeopardize the research being done. Less than .01% of people on this earth will ever even have the opportunity to try-out for an opportunity to go to space. Is it really worth spending government funding and some of the risks just to test sexual interactions in space. It would be an interesting thing to learn about but in the overall aspect it would not affect the billions of people living on Earth that never travel to space.