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Everything you always wanted to know about sex in space

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

11 April 2017
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