NASA worried about problems of crew sexual relationships during a Mars mission

EllisDTripp · Oct 22, 2005

Let's just hope that they have the good sense to use condoms, cause keeping things "contained" in zero-G could be a real mess...

http://www.newscientistspace.com/article.ns?id=dn8195

Out-of-this-world sex could jeopardise missions

* 17:42 21 October 2005
* NewScientist.com news service
* Maggie McKee

Sex and romantic entanglements among astronauts could derail missions to Mars and should therefore be studied by NASA, warns a top-level panel of US researchers.

NASA plans to return astronauts to the Moon by 2018 and later on to Mars. But a round-trip mission to the Red Planet would probably last at least 30 months and carry six to eight people. That would be a hotbed for intense crew relationships, says a report by the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS).

"With the prospect of a very long-term mission, it's hard to ignore the question of sexuality," says Lawrence Palinkas, a medical anthropologist at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, an author of the report. It reviewed NASA's plans for research to keep astronauts safe and healthy in space – but the plans make no mention of sexual issues in spaceflight.

Palinkas says long-term space missions may be similar to extended periods in the isolated and confined environments of Antarctic research stations. He says crews in those stations often pair up in "bachelor marriages" that last the length of their stay – or less. "If there are instances of sexual conflict or infidelity, that may lead to a breakdown in crew functioning," he told New Scientist.
Alleviating boredom

"Breakups can lead to violence and all kinds of things," agrees Carol Rinkleib Ellison, a psychologist specialising in sexuality and intimacy based in Oakland, California, US, who was not part of the NAS panel. "People are very primitive in their emotions around partnering and sex."

Sexual harassment may also endanger a mission. In an 8-month space station simulation on Earth in 2000, a Russian man twice tried to kiss a Canadian woman researcher just after two other Russians had gotten into a bloody brawl. As a result, locks were installed between the Russian and international crews' compartments.

Palinkas says such problems may be minimised by training astronauts ahead of time in how to deal with stressful situations or by having them speak with psychologists on the ground in group therapy sessions. "You'd deal with it basically the same way you would with any potential crew tension and conflict," he says.

But he says sex may also benefit missions by creating "a sense of stability or normalisation". Ellison agrees, saying sex or masturbation could help alleviate boredom and anxiety on the long, lonely journeys through space.

"It could help or hinder, depending on how many people you've got, their relationship, and what it means to them," she told New Scientist.
Zero-g spot

Ellison says NASA should study the likely effects of taking couples up on long missions, as well as issues of sexual orientation and fertility. She suggests individual differences in sex drive could also be used to choose crews for Mars missions.

"One could perhaps select for people who seem to have less need for sex, or at least don't use sex as a form of self-validation," Ellison says.

Beyond that, she adds, NASA should consider the practical issues of out-of-this world sex. "How do you have sex in weightlessness?" she ask. "And there's a lack of privacy – often they're monitoring pulse rate and temperature. I don't know how that would be handled."

The NAS report also calls for NASA to study the effects of cultural differences on how crews function and quantify the amount of radiation astronauts will face on long-duration space missions.
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lovelightlisa · Oct 23, 2005

Lol!!!

MikeE · Oct 23, 2005

I guess NASA finaly got around to reading Heinlein's "Stranger in a Strange Land."

hiro · Oct 23, 2005

Wow trying to fight the laws of nature should be interesting for NASA.

Asmodean · Oct 24, 2005

this reminded me of Moonraker;

hippypaul · Oct 24, 2005

MikeE said:

I guess NASA finaly got around to reading Heinlein's "Stranger in a Strange Land."
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20 points for the perfect comment!

shaggie · Oct 24, 2005

.

NovaOne · Oct 24, 2005

I say they just take a vow of chastity. That works.

Atom bomb therapy · Oct 25, 2005

EllisDTripp said:

Let's just hope that they have the good sense to use condoms, cause keeping things "contained" in zero-G could be a real mess...

http://www.newscientistspace.com/article.ns?id=dn8195
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Thats funny. lol

StonerBill · Oct 25, 2005

wouldnt it be easier in zero gravity? in fact wouldnt it be much more interesting than having to even think about whos on top or support against gravity?

gertie · Oct 25, 2005

it makes me happy that they are taking that into consideration.human being are by nature sexual beings.

EllisDTripp · Oct 26, 2005

shaggie said:

You'd have a much bigger mess than containment if someone got pregnant on a long duration mission.

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Yeah, but if they timed it right, the kid could come back to earth as a genuine Martian!

Wonder if they would need a green card....

shaggie · Oct 26, 2005

.

IronGoth · Oct 26, 2005

RE: Would he considered born in the U.S. if he was born from a U.S. citizen in space?

Yup.

But I agree, birth in zero G would be tricky as hell. No purchase, no gravity assistance. And of course, the burst of fecal matter, amniotic fluid, tissue, placenta, blood, bits of sac etc. would be DISASTROUS around electronics.

And who knows how a fetus would develop in zero G?

Atom bomb therapy · Oct 26, 2005

shaggie said:

That's an interesting one. Would he considered born in the U.S. if he was born from a U.S. citizen in space? I suppose it would be handled according to how a U.S. citizen may give birth in another country. Or is the spaceship considered U.S. soil?

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that fucked me up.

IronGoth · Oct 26, 2005

Actually if I remember correctly, children born in international waters or on airplanes above international airspace/waters can choose their country of citizenship.

StonerBill · Oct 30, 2005

doesnt that mea theyve got no citizenship for like a decade before they can make a proper decision?

hiro · Oct 30, 2005

I think it would be rather interesing to have sex at zero g. I mean it would be a workout too

canadian_boy · Oct 30, 2005

lol

hiro · Oct 30, 2005

Just think about it.... trying to preform sexually well with nothing to lay on? I mean it is probably harder then we think.

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