Porn site plans to make a porn video in space.

[The Romulan Republic]

Yes, really.

http://www.businessinsider.com/pornhub- ... ace-2015-6

Excerpt from the article:

Those who donate to the campaign will be entitled to a range of prizes, all of which have space-inspired names. Awards include early access to the resulting film, an opportunity to interview Eva and Johnny, and a gift of porn props from the film.

The top prize, called the Uranus prize, will award the person who donates $150,000 or more one of the two space suits worn in the film complete with underwear (we hope they wash that).

“This will be a grand experiment in learning how intercourse works after penetrating the Earth’s atmosphere,” said Corey Price, vice president of Pornhub.

PornHub says the money will go towards funding shuttle seating for the crews and performers, as well as space-appropriate video equipment. The company will front the costs for all other aspects of the film, like actors, promotion, and pre/post production.

The campaign will go on for another 30 days, and if the project gets funded PornHub expects to launch its team into space in 2016.

I'm tempted to role my eyes at this, though I suppose this is a virtually inevitable aspect of the commercialization of space as human civilization expands into it. But I find it intriguing that, as far as I know, this would be the first time humans had actually had sex in space. Is that the case? If so, I think its a pity if it happens for something as crass as a porn shoot (not that I think porn should be banned or something, just that the idealist in me feels that the first sexual encounter in space should have a certain dignity to it), but the implications are nonetheless quite intriguing.

Edit: Also, apologies if this isn't News and Politics worthy. I wasn't sure where to put it- I could have made a case for here, Off-Topic, Science, Logic, and Morality, or the sex forum, given the nature of the topic.

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

The thousand mile high club is about to have its first two inductees. I hope they use a lot of saran wrap, because that zero-G facial is going to be messy!

[orbitingpluto]

3 million is too low for an orbital flight, I'm guessing it's actually going to be suborbital. Still impressive, though they might only inaugurate the 62 miles high club.

I wonder if they might end up delayed, because the only suborbital vehicles in development big enough are the Virgin Galactic Space Ship Two and the Blue Origin New Shepard, both of which are still in testing. Blue Origin has been rather tight-lipped on how their vehicle is doing, but it has flown one rather successful test flight for the capsule part of New Shepard, though their booster ended up landing hard enough to be deemed unrecoverable. Space Ship Two has been in development hell for the past several years, with some speculation that the rocket motor the vehicle inherited from the earlier Space Ship One wasn't scaling up as well as they thought it would and there was problems making it burn smoothly. And there was the tragic crash that killed one test pilot. Remembering that there is only a few minutes of zero-gee at per flight as well, I kinda doubt this scheme will fly.

But, the Blue Shepard does seem to have a suitable shape for this kind of thing

[SpottedKitty]

But I find it intriguing that, as far as I know, this would be the first time humans had actually had sex in space. Is that the case?

I think the best that can be said so far is "there are no reliable reports". FWIW, there's been exactly one (1) married couple in orbit, on one of the long-duration Shuttle science missions. They were asked The Question, of course, but IIRC all they said was they were kept too busy, too tired after their shifts, and there wasn't enough privacy anyway. I don't think the actual word "no" was ever said.

There are, of course, two possible songs that can be used for the soundtrack; Making Love Weighing Nothing At All, or A Reconsideration Of Anatomical Docking Maneuvers In A Zero-Gravity Environment.

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

I wonder if they might end up delayed, because the only suborbital vehicles in development big enough are the Virgin Galactic Space Ship Two and the Blue Origin New Shepard, both of which are still in testing.

If it's the first one, they'll have to rename it. Hiyo!

[Borgholio]

and a gift of porn props from the film.

Hopefully not the ones that were actually...used...

[blowfish]

Hopefully not the ones that were actually...used...

Why not, give'em a wipe and cum have an otherworldly experience

[Eternal_Freedom]

I wonder if they might end up delayed, because the only suborbital vehicles in development big enough are the Virgin Galactic Space Ship Two and the Blue Origin New Shepard, both of which are still in testing.

If it's the first one, they'll have to rename it. Hiyo!

I see what you did there, and I wish I hadn't.

On a serious note, i really have no problem with this. It's a good sign that commercial space ventures are being taken seriously enough to consider running this kinda of scheme.

[Raw Shark]

I find it extremely unlikely that no pair of compatibly-oriented individuals rigorously-selected for fitness and health, among other things, and placed into the same stressful and isolated conditions of space for a long time, has never fucked like bunnies. That said, congrats for cinematic innovation, Porn Hub.

[SpottedKitty]

I find it extremely unlikely that no pair of compatibly-oriented individuals rigorously-selected for fitness and health, among other things, and placed into the same stressful and isolated conditions of space for a long time, has never fucked like bunnies.

IMHO the real "extremely unlikely" part is this; if it has happened, why isn't there reliable* evidence for it? The astronauts aren't alone up there, they have rooms full of technicians on the ground following everything that happens, and doctors tracking every hiccup and twitch of their heart rates. Someone would have noticed, and let the cat† out of the bag, before now.

* More reliable than Weekly World News or National Enquirer, anyway...
† Letting cats out of bags is best done on the ground. Doing it in zero-G has been experimentally proven to have serious — and seriously hilarious — results.

[Raw Shark]

IMHO the real "extremely unlikely" part is this; if it has happened, why isn't there reliable* evidence for it? The astronauts aren't alone up there, they have rooms full of technicians on the ground following everything that happens, and doctors tracking every hiccup and twitch of their heart rates. Someone would have noticed, and let the cat† out of the bag, before now. [snip]

Would you really want to screw over somebody you get fired into fucking space with, in any way, no matter how minor, including a violation of privacy? For something so trivial as fucking somebody? That shit falls under both gender codes on the planet Earth, and this is probably the situation where you need to be able to trust your coworkers the most, out of all possible working environments.

[SpottedKitty]

<shrug> People do weird stuff, sometimes, for the weirdest reasons. I think the relevant phrase is, "it seemed like a good idea at the time".

[GuppyShark]

I am perfectly willing to believe that highly intelligent, dedicated people were able to keep their libidos in check for the duration of a space mission.

The sad thing is, if one wants to live on forever in history, being the first couple to have sex in space? Probably a safe bet.

[RogueIce]

I find it extremely unlikely that no pair of compatibly-oriented individuals rigorously-selected for fitness and health, among other things, and placed into the same stressful and isolated conditions of space for a long time, has never fucked like bunnies. That said, congrats for cinematic innovation, Porn Hub.

From what I've read, they're either too busy (and thus too tired) and the lack of privacy meaning there's no real place to "sneak off" to in the shuttle or space station means they probably haven't.

That and:

I am perfectly willing to believe that highly intelligent, dedicated people were able to keep their libidos in check for the duration of a space mission.

It wouldn't surprise me if "No sex in space" is somewhere in the NASA rulebook, and the people who make it to be astronauts and then actually into space wouldn't risk all that for the sake of a little nookie.

[Batman]

The Russians, on the other hand, had long-duration space missions before the shuttle ever came to be...

[Rogue 9]

The Russians, on the other hand, had long-duration space missions before the shuttle ever came to be...

And how many female cosmonauts and mixed gender crews did they send up? I honestly don't know. (And homosexuality in the Soviet Union got one sent to the work camps, so I'm pretty sure that's not a viable alternative in such a highly monitored environment.)

[edaw1982]

I call bullshit on 'no sex ever having happened in space, never ever no siree'

"Too tired/too busy" sounds like a trite "No comment" comment to me.

It would've happened, just that nobodies said anything about it because you know whiny arseholes would get their proverbial knickers in a knot over "We're not paying bajillions of tax dollars so astronauts can have sex in space Waaah!" and then NASA would've fallen from grace sooner rather than later.

[The Romulan Republic]

While I firmly believe that an astronaut should be professional enough to get through a mission without fucking, I also feel like having a chance to have sex in space and not doing it could end up being a lifelong regret.

[K. A. Pital]

The Russians, on the other hand, had long-duration space missions before the shuttle ever came to be...

And how many female cosmonauts and mixed gender crews did they send up? I honestly don't know. (And homosexuality in the Soviet Union got one sent to the work camps, so I'm pretty sure that's not a viable alternative in such a highly monitored environment.)

We sent several mixed-gender crews up. In principle, the Salut-7 missions could have done it, but of course they would not admit it.

[Zeropoint]

I have no evidential basis for this, but I am of the opinion that sex in space has happened before and the participants and "witnesses" have simply agreed not to admit it for a number of pragmatic reasons.

[Death Zebra]

My source on this is cracked.com which I gather isn't too respected around here but apparantly there have been 2 missions flown by pilots who were drunk so we shouldn't necessarily assume that the astronauts would be too professional to um.....initiate docking procedures.

[KroLazuxy_87]

I see two main problems with having sex in space.

First, being in space does some shitty things to the human body. Getting and maintaining an erection would be difficult, if not impossible. Sweating is definitely a problem. What I'll refer to as 'natural bodily lubrication' may not function as intended. This is of course assuming you're even in the mood and not currently suffering from 'spacesickness'.

Second, it seems to me that cleanup would be one hell of a issue. It's enough of a problem here on earth that it's a common punchline. Loose 'fluids' floating around could cause havoc for electronics. There's also the issue with how fluids adhere to surfaces in space.
Here's an unintentionally accurate video of how that might play out: https://youtu.be/P36xhtpw0Lg
Another video of water in space: https://youtu.be/o8TssbmY-GM

The best option, in my opinion, would be oral sex.

[K. A. Pital]

I have no evidential basis for this, but I am of the opinion that sex in space has happened before and the participants and "witnesses" have simply agreed not to admit it for a number of pragmatic reasons.

Masturbation in space apparently happened for scientific reasons, to see what happens to sperm in weightless conditions, and if it remains fertile after freezing (it did not).

[Guardsman Bass]

Author Mary Roach asked a bunch of astronauts and cosmonauts about this when writing Packing for Mars. No one would talk about it, and the consensus was that even if it has happened, they're not going to talk about it - astronauts spend decades of their lives working hard so they can spend mere months in orbit, and they're very wary about potentially jeopardizing their ability to go into space.

[Elheru Aran]

If one wanted to avoid the matter of excess fluids... zip a few sleeping bags together (they do have those) and use a condom.

But I too think it probably happened at some point, and nobody is particularly willing to admit it. All we can do is speculate though until it 'officially' happens. Who knows, maybe Pornhub will spur a few revelations...