Astronaut couple in space: Did 'sex' happen? Scientists are also curious!

NASA has an unwritten rule that husbands and wives cannot be astronauts at the same time, this is to avoid astronauts being emotional during the mission, affecting space missions. However, in 1992, a couple of American astronauts went to space together.

The partying behavior of Mark and his wife Jane has attracted widespread media and public attention, however, the question they are most concerned about is whether the couple has any private behavior in the spaceship. very small no.

 
NASA has a law that husband and wife cannot be astronauts at the same time.

In 7 days, 22 hours, 30 minutes and 23 seconds, really nothing happened? Whether it was gossip or scientific inquiry, in short, this incident caused an uproar at that time. However, due to secrecy between the parties and NASA, this question has always remained a mystery.

But there is a significant difference between the curiosity of the public and the curiosity of scientists. The reason scientists want to understand this "chatter" is mainly to study the fertility of humans and children in space. After all, many sci-fi movies have suggested that one day the earth will no longer be suitable for human existence, so humans must migrate to other planets through space travel. . Failure to produce offspring in space could challenge human existence.

Example: On September 12, 2021, Maria, a psychologist at Concordia University, once suggested to NASA and like-minded researchers around the world something that might sound vulgar, but in fact a matter of human survival:

We have a problem! Love and sex need to happen in space if we hope to travel long distances and become an interplanetary species, but space organizations aren't ready yet.

Scientists also have to start confronting this topic, and start thinking about whether sex life in space has any effect on the bodies of astronauts? Will it affect their normal life?

 
The female astronaut said the atmosphere in the space station made her feel very tense.

The Moscow Institute of Biomedical Research once conducted an international experiment, they sent 8 astronauts of different genders into a space experiment module simulating Mir at the same time to observe the behavioral needs of the astronauts. astronaut in space.

8 cosmonauts including 7 men and 1 woman, including people from Russia, Austria, Japan and Canada, worked and lived together in the laboratory compartment for 110 days under the supervision of experts. However, the experimental results were surprising.

After the mission, the female astronaut said that the atmosphere in the space station made her feel very stressed, it was difficult to concentrate on work, her living conditions were also greatly affected, she even said that I was harassed by the captain.

Russian male cosmonauts freed some of the need by pasting some portraits on the wall. But at a dinner party, male astronauts suggest drinking, and the men compete to woo the only woman with alcohol. The result was a fight between Russian male cosmonauts, with the winner pulling the woman out of surveillance cameras and forcing a kiss amid the screams of others.

However, this simulated experimental cabin is not enough to explain the impact of real space on the physiological functions of the astronauts. Because some experts, by studying the lives of astronauts in space, believe the opposite is possible.

There are various force majeure factors in the real space environment.

We know that there are various force majeure factors in the real space environment, the first of which is the problem of gravity. On Earth, we can eat whatever we want. However, in space, astronauts are not so comfortable. Let's take drinking water as an example. In space, you can't drink water directly from a cup. There is no drag in space. If not fixed directly, water will fly everywhere. You can swallow a sip of water in your mouth, but failing to swallow will endanger the spacecraft. With a straw, the liquid in the bottle will overflow weightlessly, and accumulate on the astronaut's face, blocking the mouth and nose, causing suffocation.

Zero gravity not only makes eating difficult, but also makes physical decline, even walking is difficult. Because walking is so easy, not to mention other motor behaviors. Moreover, weightlessness will cause muscles to atrophy to a certain extent, the astronaut's body will gradually become weak because of sitting for a long time in space, so the astronaut's physical requirements are very high. . The effects of physical decline naturally include normal living and reproductive activities.

Additionally, weightlessness also lowers hormone levels in both men and women, and it's not just a simple drop in hormones.

As early as the days of the former Soviet Union, scientists began to carry out projects for the production and mating of animals in space. In 1977, the Soviet Union launched a satellite carrying male and female rats for 18 days. During this time, two female mice became pregnant, but unfortunately, they miscarried one after the other and the scientists did not get a chance to study them.

In addition, the scientists also found that most of the other mice did not get pregnant, because the weightlessness caused the hormones of the male and female mice to drop sharply, and there was no desire to reproduce. chief.

Through this experiment, scientists also found that the reproductive organs of animals ranked third in terms of the sensitivity of all organs in the body to radiation, even though the astronauts wore thick protective gear to protect themselves from radiation. against strong radiation, but radiation does not affect physiological function, the impact is still very large.

The zero-gravity environment causes physical decline, even walking is difficult.

Fortunately, in subsequent research, scientists discovered that although weightlessness can cause hormone levels to drop rapidly, humans have no desire to reproduce. However, as long as space life returns to earth, and after careful conditioning, it should not affect a woman's fertility and normal childbirth.

For example: Tereshkova, the world's first female astronaut, married a male astronaut in May, and gave birth to a healthy and beautiful baby girl the following year; Svetlana, the first female astronaut to walk in space a year and a half after returning to Earth, gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. China's first female astronaut, Liu Yang, revealed that she became a mother 3 years after completing the Shenzhou 9 mission.

Although at present, there is never a definite answer as to whether Jane and Mark have acted at all, so the online experiments are just rumors. But there's no denying that the scientific significance of proximity in space is still significant. In the future, humans could settle on Mars and even establish base stations on other planets. If humans do indeed become a space species from earth species, reproduction will be an important part of this change.