Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Astro-glide
by Tom Bozzo
Where are the astrosociologists when you need them? NASA is pondering crew health issues raised by long-duration spaceflight at more-than-quick-re-entry distances. Well, not all of the problems:
Not that I wouldn't expect legions of volunteers for sex-in-space research studies drawn from the population who think we should establish a Martian calendar now.
Or, The Fifth Generation of Social Science?! (ref.)
Where are the astrosociologists when you need them? NASA is pondering crew health issues raised by long-duration spaceflight at more-than-quick-re-entry distances. Well, not all of the problems:
Uh, yeah, because if you stick a bunch of men in a glorified tin can for months on end, Teh Gay will never happen. Not with a Republican administration's astronauts, anyhow.One topic that is evidently too hot to handle: How do you cope with sexual desire among healthy young men and women during a mission years long?
Sex is not mentioned in the document and has long been almost a taboo topic at NASA. Williams said the question of sex in space is not a matter of crew health but a behavioral issue that will have to be taken up by others at NASA.
The agency will have to address the matter sooner or later, said Paul Root Wolpe, a bioethicist at the University of Pennsylvania who has advised NASA since 2001.
"There is a decision that is going to have to be made about mixed-sex crews, and there is going to be a lot of debate about it," he said.
Not that I wouldn't expect legions of volunteers for sex-in-space research studies drawn from the population who think we should establish a Martian calendar now.
Labels: Astrosociology, Nasa, Sex
