No Astronaut Sex Allowed

Boldly no go ... sex banned in space

By BRIAN FLYNN

Published: 29 Jun 2010

ASTRONAUTS are banned from nookie in space, a Nasa commander revealed yesterday. Alan Poindexter recently led a crew of six, including three women, in a mission on board the Shuttle Discovery to the International Space Station. But he insisted none of them boldly went where no one has been before. Stern-faced Poindexter said: "We are a group of professionals. We treat each other with respect and we have a great working relationship. "Personal relationships are not an issue. We don't have them and we won't."

Professionals ... Alan Poindexter and Naoko Yamazaki

He was replying to a question during a visit to Tokyo, Japan, about whether any docking manoeuvres took place between lusty crew on his April flight. Poindexter's mission to resupply the space station saw four women in space for the first time, including one already on the space station orbiting the Earth. One of his Shuttle crew was Japanese mum Naoko Yamazaki, 39. The increasing numbers of women joining male astronauts on missions has forced Nasa bosses to confront the possibility of earthly passions taking over. There are fears it could upset relations between crewmates confined together on a spacecraft. Doctors also believe sex should not be allowed because of possible risks to any babies conceived. And enjoying orbit of the other in space poses practical problems when you are weightless. A third person would be needed to hold the lovers in position.

British astronaut Sir Michael Foale and wife Rhonda have volunteered to go on a future Nasa launch to Mars - and say they hope to be the first to break through the final frontier.

Back on Earth, Nasa spacegirl Lisa Marie Nowak, 47, was sacked in 2007 after allegedly trying to kidnap a rival in a love triangle with Shuttle pilot Bill Oefelein. Jealous Nowak, who flew one Shuttle mission, was said to have driven 900 miles, wearing a nappy to avoid stopping for the loo, to grab Colleen Shipman.