SCIENCE ISSUE OF THE DAY

Sex in Space

(Thanks to Eric Spiegelman, who notes in a totally mature fashion that one of the experts quoted is named "Dr. Wood.")

Comments

[Pattie]

Am I first?

[Lee]

Hi Garrett!

[Lee]

Who wants to be a member of the Million-Mile High Club? And what would that do for your kinky score?

[mad scientist]

I attended the University of Miami where Dr. Wood and Dr. Dix both taught in the Cox Science building...I think they are behind this project.

Lee - I am afraid of heights so you would have to blindfold me first.

[Pattie]

Over age 50 and getting to the end of their useful working lives, now that's depressing.

[Punky Brewster]

Housewives all over the world will now be replacing the cream in their hubby's coffee with bromide.

No more need for the ol' "I've got a headache" excuse.

NASA is brilliant, I tell ya.

Men. Always thinking with their little head ... even in space.

[Lee]

Pattie was FIRST!!! Yayyyyy!

mad scientist - fine by me! That should add something to the score, too!

Punky, ur, what was I thinking about?

[BMX3]

Meh. Just send my wife, problem solved.

/just kiddin' hon, really! Where ya goin'? Come on, come back here.

[Pattie]

What if the crew consisted of all women? Problem solved. Except for the competion about who gets to be FIRST!!!

[mad scientist]

Well Lee only in the name of space exploration...

[eadn]

Ya know, all I can say is them scientists ought to read Heinlein's more "adult" books. Them forthcoming astronauts of both sexes too. He solved the problem in congenial ways! :-)

[Genevieve]

They just don't want to take along all the drugs and equipment needed for when women have babies in space.

[Garret]

Yes? Hello Lee!

Wait ... you woke me up for this article?!

[Pattie]

What is the name of the Heinein book with the groking in it? I remember reading it maybe 25 or 30 years ago when I was a young pup. I reread it several times and thought it was the perfect bible. I think it's time to read it again.

[Lee]

Apparently, I can't type or spell today. Heinlein!

Here's some great Heinlein quotes:

History does not record anywhere at any time a religion that has any rational basis. Religion is a crutch for people not strong enough to stand up to the unknown without help. But, like dandruff, most people do have a religion and spend time and money on it and seem to derive considerable pleasure from fiddling with it.

Kissing girls is a great goodness. It beats hell out of card games.

Don't ever become a pessimist, Ira; a pessimist is correct oftener than an optimist, but an optimist has more fun--and neither can stop the march of events.

Never attempt to teach a pig to sing. It is a waste of time and it annoys the pig.

[Lee]

Stranger in a Strange Land. It's been blamed for singlehandedly creating the 60's. Fantastic book, they released an uncut version a few years ago. This should be required reading in all schools.

[Lee]

Here's a few that have never been truer:

"I would say that my position is not too far from that of Ayn Rand's; that I would like to see government reduced to no more than internal police and courts, external armed forces--with the other matters handled otherwise. I'm sick of the way the government sticks its nose into everything, now." RAH

"Women and Cats do what they do; there is nothing a man can do about it." RAH

[Pattie]

Thanks Lee, first stop tomorrow is the book store. Old hippies never die. I wasn't sure about the spelling of Heinlein on my last post, so I backed-up and copied your spelling. I think it was karma kicking me in the butt. I find myself looking for Graz to make typos, and then posting a comment about them. I am humbled.

[Lee]

A typo in the second degree! I couldn't believe I did that in the first place. Typoing the name of one the most influential authors, ever.

Interesting trivia: Heinlein invented the waterbed in one of his books. The guy that first started building them sent Heinlein one of the very first waterbeds. Which isn't one of the reasons I have a waterbed. ;-)

Enjoy the book, Pattie. You've given me a desire to reread it for the gazillionth time.

[Pattie]

Heinlein and Heiniken, any connection? Is Heinlein still alive? I wonder if he wrote Stranger in a Strange Land after he was 50?

[jamester]

RAH is very unfortunately deceased. (He has gone to sing with the choir celestial).

[eadn]

A little sorrow Pattie, Heinlein has passed on awhile back "Grumbles from the Grave".

However, Lee?! An "unedited" Stranger?! I'll have to check my boxed archives and see if I don't have it! If not, offhand do you know if it's still even being printed let alone published?!

By the way, I'm sure some of you know that some of my paraphrasings refer to Harlan Ellison. C'est la me and worse YET! I really have had to realize that my memory has gone flat! ;-)

[Jeff Meyerson]

"Chemical sterilisation"? It may be agnfarb, but otherwise GET REAL! They expect asatronauts to risk their lives on a three year trip to Mars and also to get sterilised? Methinks Dr. Rachel Armstrong isn't getting much nookie.

Whereas STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND is a classic. I really need to reread it, but I'm afraid I wouldn't love it the way I did 30 (gack!) years ago.

[Pattie]

I wonder if there are any current authors who write cool stuff comprable to RAH. Is comprable a word? I'm just getting around to reading Vonnegut's Time Quake. It's kinda sad, like He's predicting the demise of literature.

[eadn]

Oops! Pattie, sorry for being the third hit on the Heinlein bell tolled!

Lee, I agree, the ST movie was over-done considering all RAH was trying to say!

[Brandon]

Sorry to be going back to the topic. I promise this is only a temporary diversion, but I have to say that my favorite quote is

"Certainly, some scientists believe it is a topic that should be dealt with head on."

[Brad]

By the time we go to Mars, the 5th generation of Cialis will be available. "Those experiencing erections lasting longer than 3 years should seek immediate medical assistance."

[Graz]

NASA: You will be a national hero. Your name will be in history books around the world. You will be one of the first humans to step foot on Mars. This is something that children everywhere will aspire to when they grow up.

Astronaut: Sounds great! I'll do it.

NASA: There's just this one little thing......

Astronaut: ?

NASA: You must be chemically sterilized so you won't have sex for three years.

Astronaut: Gee....look at the time....gotta go. Do you validate parking?

Patti, check me for typos?

[Graz]

Lee, thanks for that link of the letter from the Marine Lieutenant Colonel. After being in the Marine Corps for 6 years, this strikes close to home. Not only are some of the Marines over in Iraq guys that I had been stationed with in various places, but having been in a small ( in retrospect) altercation in Panama in 1988, I read something like that and through the multitude of thoughts and feelings that I feel, one thing hits me very hard.

There but for the grace of God go I.

[robert]

Note: it is the *johnson* space center
redheads rule!

[Pattie]

Graz, no typos detected. I feel compeled to check for them now because you were the first person I had "talked to" on the computer. Since you responded in a friendly fashion, I'm now conditioned like one of Pavlow's dogs. I see a typo and I start salivating.

[Graz]

Patti, my typos have been fodder for the cannons of the Bloglits since shortly after Dave added this life absorbing comments section. I will make many more because I never think to check for them before I hit the post button. So, check away, and when you find one of mine, feel free to hit me with it.

As a wise guy once said, " A person who cannot laugh at himself is missing the punch line to some darn funny jokes"

Or somethin' like that.

[cheese_ball839]

Anyone here ever been to space? It is boring as all get out, trust me. You run your systems checks, do your little experiments, and that's fine and good for a couple of weeks.

But on a long trip like to Mars, you will get bored pretty quickly.

Why punish these astronauts by taking away the sex drive? Haven't they suffered enough by having to learn calculus AND work for the federal government? Taking away their sex drive is just plain sick. We don't even force that kind of thing on convicted felons for crying out loud!!

Besides, do you know how many fun new positions you can use in total weightlesness? So I say let them get their freak on any way they wish. And then they can come home and really say that they did it on the ceiling...

[TN]

I used to work for a company that worked for NASA I did a lot of school talk kind of things, and I could pretty much count on two questions if I had more than 3 boys in the group.

1) How do they go to the bathroom? This question occurred in the over 8 groups
2) Has anyone had sex in space? This was in the over 12 groups.

I don't know whether anyone actually can answer the 2nd question in the affirmative, but we used to discuss it around the office from time to time (usually after one of the school things) and we're pretty convinced it's happened sometime.

There is at least 1 pair of astronauts that are married to each other. So who knows.

[Garret]

Above for cheese_ball. No cutting in line, TN

[Chester]

Glad I wasn't the only one who noticed NASA's statement came from the Johnson Space Center.

huh huh huh

[alex]

hehehe...you're #2...hehehe...in more ways than one. (JK) :-)

Already done. See earlier comments.

[Mahatma Kane Jeeves]

Well, you can't have astronauts galavanting across the final frontier like the randy ol' Captain Kirk did.

By the way, I noticed on other comments sections of web sites that the "I'm first!" deal is a pretty common occurance, for some reason.

[philintexas]

Jeez...all that practice on the simulator for Zero-G docking maneuvers out the hatch... NASA is missing the big picture if they choose to put the "little head" to sleep for three years. Think of the research possibilities to penetrate to the essence of human behavior. Of course this is from a guy's perspective...

[Chester]

Alex: Yes, that's why I started my comment with "Glad I'm not the only one..." See, that means...oh, nevermind.

I don't care if it's redundant. I refuse to miss an opportunity to be Beavis.

[c00kie]

I wonder if the first human mars visitor will have the urge to write "first" in the red land.

Those who first have sex on Mars could start the "light year high" club.

[triller]

Wood Shmood.
We're talkin' "Johnson" Space Center here.

[Rob]

It's funny Heinlein was mentioned. In the beginning of Stranger in a Strange Land there's a mission to Mars crewed with married couples (four, I think) to avoid the interpersonal problems. Of course, in the book one of them has an affair with another and a murder results, so maybe the book isn't a ringing endorsement of this system...

[Rob]

Oh, and don't worry about knowing this ruining the book - it's just a minor plot point, the book is about other things.

[evil little pixie]

Was is just me, or was anyone else dissapointed that this article wasn't actually about having sex in space? I was thinking it would be a discussion of how's it done in a zero-gravity environment or something.

[eadn]

Lee, very moving story in that Marine link. Read it this morning, given your forewarning.

c00kie, if humankind ever does get to Mars, I think it would be hilarious if the first person did write "first" in the dust! :-)

[Mahatma Kane Jeeves]

the presence or absence of gravity doesn't affect body mechanics

Sounds like a cool job. Are they like doctors or something?

[Lee]

Glad y'all liked the Marine's story. I hope you took the warning seriously!

Rob, that's pretty much why eadn brought up Heinlein. He covered the sex in space topic a bunch of different times. And the SiSL incident is probably the type of reasoning that has NASA thinking about this. Now I can see some form of mandated birth control; having children born in space would require a lot of special facilities and might involve a lot of danger to the child and mother (we are built for gravity, after all.)

Brad, I crack up at those Cailis ads. "Erections lasting longer than 4 hours, thought rare, require immediate medical attention." I hate it when that happens...

[Lmd33]

"Unusually for a space issue, it is one where physical problems would not arise, as the presence or absence of gravity doesn't affect body mechanics".

Well, it might effect ONE body mechanic, in a very positive way!!

[Dave Munger]

"Stranger in a Strange Land" inspired an actual religious cult named after the one in the book. RAH was a friend of L Ron Hubbard, and there's a rumor that Scientology was the result of a friendly wager between them that Hubbard could top Heinlien by starting a PROFITABLE religion. I actually like some of Verhoeven's (sp?) movies, but I'm pretty sure he never even read "Starship Troopers". Hope I'm not burned at the stake for this, but I think that "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" is way better than "Stranger". Funny thing, RAH was nearly the ultimate non-hippy. Hippies routinely (and unfairly) call him a militaristic fascist because of books like "Starship Troopers" and his non fiction.

I think the Russians seriously considered all female crews at some point, because they're smaller and more flexible. I might have just dreamt that though. They seem to have a much more practical approach to the details though. We have that huge food rehydrator, the cosmonauts wives pack them sack lunches. We invented those special pens, they use pencils. We've got that fancy vaccum toilet, they crap in a bag and throw it out the airlock. The toilet and the rehydrator not only cost millions, they weigh a lot too, so they're even more expensive in fuel. One drawback of female astronauts is that every time they suit up, they have to be catheterized. I suspect the Russians just wear diapers under their spacesuits.

I wish I could say this is the nerdiest thing I've ever posted online.

[Lee]

Dave, you're close to correct about the creation of Scientology. It was more that Hubbard was bragging he could do it, and Heinlein challenged him to prove it, IIRC. Viginia Heinlein pretty much confirmed this a few years back on the Heinlein newsgroup. Don't remember there being an cult that followed SiSL, but many took inspiration from it. Usually incorrectly.

Heinlein certainly wasn't a hippie, nor a militaristic fascist. He was essentially what would now be called a libertarian. When he ran for public office (can't remember what, just now,) he ran as a Democrat.

And I debate on which Heinlein book was better could go on and on. tMiaHM was a great book, as well. But there are many others.

Verhoevan had certainly read the book, he just thought it was advocating fascism and twisted the story to make it look bad. He basically got it all wrong. Great special effects, though!

[Dave Munger]

The Church of All Worlds was pretty much a combination of Wicca and assorted SoCal flakyness, from what I heard.

I can't believe that anyone who considers such an anti-militaristic book fascist really read it, maybe skimmed it. I did love the look the brain bug gave the psychic guy at the end, though. It's like, "HOLY CRAP, IS THAT DOOGIE HOWSER?"

I guess I haven't really read all that much RAH, given the amount that he wrote. "Harsh Mistress" is the best I've seen so far, and makes the case for libertarianism more beautifully than any other fiction I've seen. When I take over the moon, I'm using it as my manual. Just read "The Door Into Summer", probably the best title of any novel, ever. Finally got the short story "And He Built A Crooked House", been looking for it since I was wee. Haven't seen the movie "Hypercube" yet, it's not his, but it's the only other fiction I've heard of based on the tesseract premise. I'm going to take off my Spock ears and calm down now...