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If you take NASA at its word, no human beings have ever had sex in space. So far, during manned missions in Earth’s orbit, sex has been treated as something best avoided rather than an issue of import. But if we plan on making trips to Mars any time in the foreseeable future, or seek to colonise other planets, it will be crucial to know how sex works (or doesn’t) beyond our atmosphere. Indeed, based on the little we’ve gathered from trial runs with other animals, space sex and reproduction could prove to be confoundingly tricky. A companion video to an article that first appeared on FiveThirtyEight, this witty and informative collage-style animation delivers the ‘space sex talk’ you didn’t know you needed.
Researcher and Narrator: Maggie Koerth-Baker
Writer and Producer: Christine Laskowski
Designer and Animator: Tom McCarten
Sound Designer and Music Editor: Redhorse Studio
Art Director: Kate LaRue
Production Support: Tony Chow, Lila Cherneff, Jorge Estrada
Copy Editors: Colleen Barry, John Forsyth, Meghan Ashford-Grooms
Senior Science Editor: Blythe Terrell
Production Manager: Catherine Sankey
Director of Video Development: Adam Neuhaus
Director of Video Production: Ryan Nantell
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