An older article but well worth linking… news of “secret” NASA tests conducted in Earth orbit to determine the best positions for sex in a zero gravity environment.

Computer stimulations simulations determined ten positions that were the most likely to succeed and then, according to the article, a couple of “guinea pigs” were sent into space to actually try them out.

“The issue of sex in space is a serious one,” he says. “The experiments carried out so far relate to missions planned for married couples on the future International Space Station, the successor to Mir. Scientists need to know how far sexual relations are possible without gravity.” He cites a confidential Nasa report on a space shuttle mission in 1996. A project codenamed STS-XX was to explore sexual positions possible in a weightless atmosphere. Twenty positions were tested by computer simulation to obtain the best 10, he says. “Two guinea pigs then tested them in real zero-gravity conditions. The results were videotaped but are considered so sensitive that even Nasa was only given a censored version.”

I was wondering where my pet guinea pigs got to the other week, and now I know why they won’t show me the video footage of their little holiday…

Via Tash Mahal.