Sex In Space
Riley
Is there a single authentically recorded incident of:
-- SEX IN SPACE -- ?
(With apologies to Jim Henson and the Muppets.)
I am working on two separate short stories that require romantic
interludes. One is set in micro-gravity on a long duration mission to
control an Earth-crossing asteroid. The other is set in the early
days of lunar colonization.
The micro-gravity case seems to be a real wash out. There is little
private space on the ship for a couple. Everyone can hear everything
that is going on from one end of the ship to the other. There is no
good purchase to keep you from floating around. The couple either has
a choice of bumping their heads all the time or entangling themselves
in sleeping restraints.
I think I am justified in having, "failure to take the crew's
sexuality into account in the design of the ship has resulted in
serious morale problems" as a plot element.
The Luna case looks more promising. There is more room and much more
privacy. There are also very long nights.
The restrictions are that everything that can be made from Lunar
materials must be made from Lunar materials and every thing must be
designed for 1/6 G. This means that beds are just stick-frame cots.
Blankets and bedding are very scarce (Earth imports). The floors are
made of bare metal or ceramic and are cold and damp. Romantic views
from the inside looking out are damn hard to come by.
As to who what with whom, as author that is none of my business. The
characters pretty much do what they want to anyway. As to how much to
show in the story, well these are all fairly private people.
Riley
jri...@charm.net
Jerry Bryson
>
> Is there a single authentically recorded incident of:
>
> -- SEX IN SPACE -- ?
Not sure, but I think the Soviets sent up a (properly married) couple early
on. The kid is now grown, as I think I remember.
Pete Hardie
>
> Is there a single authentically recorded incident of:
>
> -- SEX IN SPACE -- ?
>
Officially, no (unless the Soviets are just keeping quiet).
OTOH, there have been enough flights with men and women crew to provide
plenty of opportunities. Heck, if any 2 of the astro/cosmonauts have
been gay, there's been lots more chances.
> I am working on two separate short stories that require romantic
>interludes. One is set in micro-gravity on a long duration mission to
>control an Earth-crossing asteroid. The other is set in the early
>days of lunar colonization.
>
> The micro-gravity case seems to be a real wash out. There is little
>private space on the ship for a couple. Everyone can hear everything
>that is going on from one end of the ship to the other. There is no
>good purchase to keep you from floating around. The couple either has
>a choice of bumping their heads all the time or entangling themselves
>in sleeping restraints.
Privacy is only a concern for shy people from Western cultures. There
are people who like the 'danger' of sex in 'public', or those who
don't care about privacy.
As for lack of purchase, a coffin-sized sleeping tube would provide
enough closeness of walls to work.
> I think I am justified in having, "failure to take the crew's
>sexuality into account in the design of the ship has resulted in
>serious morale problems" as a plot element.
With Westerners as crew, this can be valid.
> The Luna case looks more promising. There is more room and much more
>privacy. There are also very long nights.
Sounds like Alaska.
> The restrictions are that everything that can be made from Lunar
>materials must be made from Lunar materials and every thing must be
>designed for 1/6 G. This means that beds are just stick-frame cots.
>Blankets and bedding are very scarce (Earth imports). The floors are
>made of bare metal or ceramic and are cold and damp. Romantic views
>from the inside looking out are damn hard to come by.
Why would things be built for 1/6 G specifically? Aluminum cot frames
are very light, and some varieties are quite sturdy, without much more
weight. Also, if there is Lunar metal extraction, metal-frame strucutres
can be made fairly cheaply, and thus sturdily. Or dig bed shelves frmo
the surrounding rock.
Also remember that a Lunar station can have access to permanent solar energy,
as a way to keep floors and walls warm and dry.
--
Pete Hardie, nanobrewer, amateur philosopher
pe...@nyet.atl.ga.us
Seth Gordon
pe...@nyet.atl.ga.us (Pete Hardie) writes:
>
>Privacy is only a concern for shy people from Western cultures.
"The small size of colonial dwellings allowed children quite early in
their lives to hear or see sexual activity among adults. Although
curtains might isolate the parental bed, all family members commonly
slept in the same room, especially during winters, when a single
fireplace provided the heat. Thus a four-year-old girl reported to a
servant that she saw a man `lay on the bed with her mamma,' and heard
him instruct the mother to `lay up higher.' Furthermore, the practice
of sharing beds exposed some young people to adult sexuality. In one
home, three adults and a child were sleeping together when one of the
men unbuttoned his breeches and had `carnal knowledge' with a female
bedmate. One woman got into bed with her children, and when a man
joined them, her daughter recalled, the mother instructed the children
to `lie further or else shee would kick us out of bed.' Even couples
who sought greater privacy had difficulty finding it, for loosely
constructed houses allowed neighbors and kin to observe what happened
behind closed doors."
--John D'Emilio and Estelle B. Freedman, _Intimate Matters_
(New York: Harper and Row, 1989), p. 17.
--
seth gordon // se...@gnu.ai.mit.edu // standard disclaimer // pgp2-compatible
In omnibus requiem quaesivi, et nusquam inveni nisi in angulo cum libro.
David Carter
> The micro-gravity case seems to be a real wash out. There is little
>private space on the ship for a couple. Everyone can hear everything
>that is going on from one end of the ship to the other. There is no
>good purchase to keep you from floating around. The couple either has
>a choice of bumping their heads all the time or entangling themselves
>in sleeping restraints.
>
> I think I am justified in having, "failure to take the crew's
>sexuality into account in the design of the ship has resulted in
>serious morale problems" as a plot element.
Some people *have* given this subject some thought, and came up with
undergarments (basically underwear with four legholes) that the couple would
wear to keep them "together". Some have proposed neopryene or latex, but that
would make sweating difficult (an inevitability if you're doing it right);
another plan used some sort of absorbent material such as elasticized cotton
blended with polyester. The cleaning might be more of a hassle...
Frank Palmer
In article:<4980dv$a...@canton.charm.net>
jri...@charm.net (Riley) writes:
Jr> -- SEX IN SPACE -- ?
Jr> The micro-gravity case seems to be a real wash out. There is little
Jr> private space on the ship for a couple. Everyone can hear everything
Jr> that is going on from one end of the ship to the other. There is no
Jr> good purchase to keep you from floating around. The couple either has
Jr> a choice of bumping their heads all the time or entangling themselves
Jr> in sleeping restraints.
Jr> I think I am justified in having, "failure to take the crew's
Jr> sexuality into account in the design of the ship has resulted in
Jr> serious morale problems" as a plot element.
There is a long-standing guess that sex in 0-g would be great.
I doubt it. For one thing, repeated reciprocating motion with
the whole body in 0-g is likely to set the inner ear spinning.
For another, both need to be deuced near tied up.
Jr> The Luna case looks more promising. There is more room and much more
Jr> privacy. There are also very long nights.
Jr> The restrictions are that everything that can be made from Lunar
Jr> materials must be made from Lunar materials and every thing must be
Jr> designed for 1/6 G. This means that beds are just stick-frame cots.
Jr> Blankets and bedding are very scarce (Earth imports). The floors are
Jr> made of bare metal or ceramic and are cold and damp. Romantic views
Jr> from the inside looking out are damn hard to come by.
Since there is a LOT of Aluminum on Luna, Al sheets would be
cheap. "Paintings" using anodized Al would be the local art
form. As for bed, sex doesn't need a bed in 1/6 g.
It is perfectly possible (if exausting) to have sex
standing up on Earth. it would be the obvious choice on Luna.
... Im Kriege schweigt das Recht.
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
--
Frank Palmer
flpa...@ripco.com
Jerry Bryson
Then put them in charge of instruction.
Jon Leech
Jerry Bryson <jbr...@richmond.infi.net> wrote:
>
>on. The kid is now grown, as I think I remember.
This sounds like an urban legend in the making.
See http://medlib.jsc.nasa.gov/intro/sex.html for some NASA material on
sex and reproduction in space.
Jon
__@/
Matthew Skala
It is possibly unwise to post on this, But.
I think it's a very interesting topic. There are lots of SF
sex-in-microgravity treatments, and I've even seen one instance of
characters accustomed to microgravity being interested in experimenting
with sex in gravity.
But I do wonder what the word is in real life. It seems like there have
been so many long-term missions, it would have to have been tried *some*
time, but I know no report.
--
Matthew "The Coroner" Skala, VE7MSK * Hunting ears, Can make a bull - *
Sysop of Ansuz BBS (604) 642-7820 * But eyes, And brains, Make spacefen - *
msk...@island.amtsgi.bc.ca * And fools, Make only, Corpses - * - Brin
http://www.islandnet.com/~mskala/ Gender War conscientious objector ATUDA
* RM 1.3 00829 * "These days, I learn about most celebrity deaths via haiku."
Jon Leech
>There is a long-standing guess that sex in 0-g would be great.
>I doubt it. For one thing, repeated reciprocating motion with
>the whole body in 0-g is likely to set the inner ear spinning.
>
> For another, both need to be deuced near tied up.
This is a drawback? Kind of a vanilla attitude IMO...
Jon
__@/
Geoffrey A. Landis
>....
> The restrictions are that everything that can be made from Lunar
Actually, bedding on the moon could be made of a sack full of dust/sand
(the finer components of lunar regolith). It's not soft like a matress
per se, but a sand bed can be moderately confortable-- think of all the
people dozing on the beach-- or condider the "bean-bag" style chair.
The 1/6 G would also make everything lighter, and make the need for
matresses much less-- even sleeping on the floor might not be
uncomfortable in zero-gee
____________________________________________
Geoffrey A. Landis,
Ohio Aerospace Institute at NASA Lewis Research Center
physicist and part-time science fiction writer
Mark Grant
>But I do wonder what the word is in real life. It seems like there have
>been so many long-term missions, it would have to have been tried *some*
>time, but I know no report.
AFAIR there have been about two Russian flights with male and female
astronauts on Mir at the same time, with six or seven people on most
shuttle flights I'd doubt that they'd get up to much. I still think
that a zero-g porn movie might be the only commercially viable use
of the shuttle at current launch prices, but I can't see NASA going
for it..
I was thinking about doing some computer simulations and writing a
'Zero-Gravity Kama Sutra' paper for the IAF Congress this year, but got
persuaded to do a different one instead. A friend of mine suggested
a research program in a parabolic zero-g simulation plane, but I think
that twenty seconds of zero-g might be a little bit short ;-)..
Mark
(Mark....@isltd.insignia.com)
Bronis Vidugiris
Mark Grant <Mark....@isltd.insignia.com> wrote:
)I was thinking about doing some computer simulations and writing a
)'Zero-Gravity Kama Sutra' paper for the IAF Congress this year, but got
)persuaded to do a different one instead. A friend of mine suggested
)a research program in a parabolic zero-g simulation plane, but I think
)that twenty seconds of zero-g might be a little bit short ;-)..
The first thought that comes to mind is using some bungee
cords to help out, and going for the main axis / torso of the woman
perpendicular to the main axis / torso of the man as far
as position. (Arms and legs can be adjusted for position as
needed).
Bungee cords may not be a necessity, but would seem helpful. They'd tend to set
up a natural frequency, one might want one partner to be able to adjust the
tension of the bungee cords to adjust the frequency. (Presumably the other
partner would be the one producing the periodic driving motive force.)
I'm not sure if being strapped down would be a requirement, but if
one was floating one would want to be in an area with soft walls.
Maybe some more bungee cords to keep the center of mass mostly
in the center of the room.
William H. Mook, Jr.
fibers are very very flexible (by the standards of ceramics) So it might
be conceivable that you could weave fabrics out of these fibers. With
attention to the detail of structure *within* the fiber - you might not
be able to distinguish a lunar regolith wool sweater from one originating
in Scotland! The dyes you might use on a wool sweater or jacket might
be dispensed with as well.
Consider a butterfly wing. They may be brightly colored. But all
butterlfy wings are made of chitin without any dyes whatsoever. They're
the same as your fingernail. Why are they colorful? Because they have
tiny patterns etched into their surfaces. Like your fingerprints, but
much much tiner. These patterns interfere with white light to produce
rainbows of deep rich color. Okay, imagine if you make your fibers not
only wool like in their stretchiness and weight and absorbtivity and all
that... but you impress using lasers perhaps - interference bands onto
their surfaces.
So with NO imputs from earth you might be able - if your clever enough -
fabricate richly colored high value fabrics from just sunlight and rocks.
Of course you can do *anything* if you're clever enough!!!! :)
Not only will you have bedding on the moon - made of moon dust, you'll
have rich silks and deep woolens, luxuriant cottons, all in the most
brilliantly deep - permafast - colors imaginable.
This applies to clothing, wall and floor coverings - and all the other
uses of fabrics, wadding, and filler.
Since they're ceramic through and through - they'll last as long as the
pyramids, they'll be easy to clean, (without water - just put them in a
vacuum and shake them with a contact ultrasonic vibrator) and they won't
rot like organic fibers (no bedbugs, mites, fleas, or ticks), they're
fireproof, and on and on...
One drawback ... remember those jeans you used to love? Or those loafers
you regretted throwing away? Well, what if those never wore out? They'd
wear in - stretch, etc... but they'd never wear out! Even if you threw
them away they'd be perfectly suited for someone else of similar size and
build to wear! So, for the clothing industry.... production would be
limited. That's their problem! But a definite benefit on the moon,
where people have other things to worry about beyond manufacturing a
million copies of the same pair of jeans over and over again...
Jon Leech
Matthew Skala <msk...@islandnet.com> wrote:
>But I do wonder what the word is in real life. It seems like there have
>been so many long-term missions, it would have to have been tried *some*
>time, but I know no report.
Suppose it did happen. Suppose someone did think about reporting it.
Then suppose this person considered the probable response of politicians who
control the NASA budget.
Jon
__@/
steve hix
> In article <4980dv$a...@canton.charm.net> Riley, writes:
> >....
> > The restrictions are that everything that can be made from Lunar
> > materials must be made from Lunar materials and every thing must be
> > designed for 1/6 G. This means that beds are just stick-frame cots.
> > Blankets and bedding are very scarce (Earth imports).
> >...
>
> Actually, bedding on the moon could be made of a sack full of dust/sand
> (the finer components of lunar regolith). It's not soft like a matress
> per se, but a sand bed can be moderately confortable-- think of all the
> people dozing on the beach-- or condider the "bean-bag" style chair.
>
> The 1/6 G would also make everything lighter, and make the need for
> matresses much less-- even sleeping on the floor might not be
> uncomfortable in zero-gee
Staying *on* the floor, though, might be an issue. :}
One of neatness, perhaps.
Bronis Vidugiris
Bronis Vidugiris <b...@areaplg2.corp.mot.com> wrote:
)Bungee cords may not be a necessity, but would seem helpful. They'd tend to set
)up a natural frequency, one might want one partner to be able to adjust the
)tension of the bungee cords to adjust the frequency. (Presumably the other
)partner would be the one producing the periodic driving motive force.)
I was doing some calculations on this, and one needs a pretty
stiff spring. A single bungee cord won't do the job.
It's handy to express the spring constant in terms of the distance
the spring must stretch to support the combined mass of the
system under earth's gravity just to get a rough idea of the
spring's stifness in comprehensible terms.
This turns out to be
l(stretch) = g*t^2/4*pi^2
where t is the desired periodicity of the system in seconds.
Given g=10m/s^2, and t=1 second, we are talking only on the order
of 1/3m stretch in the string to support the total weight of the
system (read couple), and only 1/4 of that if the desired period
is .5 seconds - i.e. a fairly stiff spring.
Imagine
§
§But surely, they can't be opposed to real groundbreaking research, can
§they?
§I mean, sooner or later we *have* to find out!
§
§Vicke
§
§
§ vi...@df.lth.se
Ground breaking or ground moving? Or can one say that the earth moved when
in micro-grav? As for my opinion of sex in space, yes, please!
--
Imagine
**Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean you're not out to get me!**
Molhant Norman
>Actually, bedding on the moon could be made of a sack full of dust/sand
>(the finer components of lunar regolith). It's not soft like a matress
>per se, but a sand bed can be moderately confortable-- think of all the
>people dozing on the beach-- or condider the "bean-bag" style chair.
>The 1/6 G would also make everything lighter, and make the need for
>matresses much less-- even sleeping on the floor might not be
>uncomfortable in zero-gee
Indeed, one could even sleep standing up without much problem: with 1/6 G,
our heart has much less of a problem keeping our blood going everywhere,
a bit like it does when one sleeps in a horizontal bed.
A simple suspension system, like those used by alpinists when sleeping
suspended to a rock face, would solve the problem of not falling down
while sleeping standing up (muscles relax while sleeping, don't you know :-).
In french, one would say "c'est une histoire a dormir debout", which translates
into "this is a story to sleep standing up" but means "this is a thoroughly
unbelievable story". ;-)
Bye!
Norman.
--
----------------------------------------------+------------------------------
I own a PC to program what my customers want. | mol...@ere.umontreal.ca
I own a Mac to program what my students need. | above_opinions.only_owner =
I own an Amiga to program what I want & need. | Norman W. Molhant = me;
WPBogen
Mattress".
Vicke Dovheden
le...@cs.unc.edu (Jon Leech) wrote:
But surely, they can't be opposed to real groundbreaking research, can
Imagine
'>matresses much less-- even sleeping on the floor might not be
'>uncomfortable in zero-gee
What if one is already comfortable sleeping on the floor here? Granted,
the floor has medium pile shag and padding underneith, but all that is on
top of concrete. The only trouble I have is if I don't move in the night
(drinking beforehand) and get a sore spot on my hip or shoulderblade. It
does save space in one room apartment. Especially since I now have the
start of a motorcycle in the center of room.
K C Moore
> I am reminded of my favorite Heinlein story: "The Moon is a Hard
> Mattress".
Which reminds me that a mistress is something between a mister and a
mattress.
--
Ken Moore
k...@hpsl.demon.co.uk
Dave Siltz
have the URL.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Experiment 8 Postflight Summary
NASA publication 14-307-1792
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this experiment was to prepare for the expected participation
in long-term space based research by husband-wife teams once the US space
station is in place. To this end, the investigators explored a number of
possible approaches to continued marital relations in the zero-G orbital
environment provided by the STS-75 shuttle mission.
Our primary conclusion is that satisfactory marital relations are within the
realm of possibility in zero-G, but that many couples would have difficulty
getting used to the approaches we found to be most satisfactory.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
INTRODUCTION
The number of married couples currently involved in proposals for long- term
projects on the US space station has grown considerably in recent years.
This raises the serious question of how such couples will be able to carry
out normal marital relations without the aid of gravity.
Preliminary studies in the short-term weightless environment provided by
aircraft flying on ballistic trajectories were sufficient to demonstrate
that there were problems, but the duration of the zero-G environment on such
flights is too short to reach any satisfactory conclusions. Similar
experiments undertaken in a neutral buoyancy tank were equally inconclusive
because of the awkwardness of the breathing equipment.
The primary conclusion that could be drawn from these early experiments was
that the conventional approach to marital relationships (sometimes described
as the missionary approach) is highly dependent on gravity to keep the
partners together. This observation lead us to propose the set of tests
known as STS-75 Experiment 8.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
METHODOLOGY
The co-investigators had exclusive use of the lower deck of the shuttle
for 10 intervals of 1 hour each during the orbital portion of the
flight. A resting period of a minimum of 4 hours was included in the
schedule between intervals. During each interval, the investigators erected
a pneumatic sound deadening barrier between the lower deck and the flight
deck (see NASA publication 12-571-3570) and carried out one run of the
experiment.
Each experimental run was planned in advance to test one approach to the
problem. We made extensive use of a number of published sources in our
efforts to find satisfactory solutions see Appendix I), arriving at an
initial list of 20 reasonable solutions. Of these, we used computer
simulation (using the mechanical dynamics simulation package from the CADSI
company) to determine the 10 most promising solutions.
Six solutions utilized mechanical restraints to simulate the effect of
gravity, while the others utilized only the efforts of the experimenters to
solve the problem. Mechanical and unassisted runs were alternated, and each
experimental run was videotaped for later analysis. Immediately after each
run, the experimenters separately recorded their observations, and then
jointly reviewed the videotapes and recorded joint observations.
The sensitive nature of the videotapes and first-hand observations pre-
cludes a public release of the raw data. The investigators have pre- pared
this paper to summarize their results, and they intend to release a training
videotape for internal NASA use, constructed from selected segments of the
videotapes and additional narrative material.
The following summary is organized in two sections; the first covers the
mechanical solutions, while the second covers the "natural" approaches. Each
solution is described briefly, and then followed by a brief summary of the
result. Some summaries are combined.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY OF RESULTS
1) An elastic belt around the waist of the two partners. The partners faced
each other in the standard or missionary posture.
Entry was difficult and once it was achieved, it was difficult to maintain.
With the belt worn around the hips, entry was easy, but it was difficult to
obtain the necessary thrusting motion; as a result, this approach was not
satisfactory.
2) Elastic belts around the thighs of the two partners. The female's
buttocks were against the groin of the male, with her back against his
chest.
An interesting experiment, but ultimately unsatisfactory because of the
difficulty of obtaining the necessary thrusting motion.
3) An elastic belt binding the thighs of the female to the waist of the
male. The female's buttocks were against the male's groin, while her knees
straddled his chest.
Of the approaches tried with an elastic belt, this was by far the most
satisfactory. Entry was difficult, but after the female discovered how to
lock her toes over the male's thighs, it was found that she could obtain the
necessary thrusting motions. The male found that his role was unusually
passive but pleasant.
One problem both partners noticed with all three elastic belt solutions was
that they reminded the partners of practices sometimes associated with
bondage, a subject that neither found particularly appealing. For couples
who enjoy such associations, however, and especially for those who routinely
enjoy female superior relations, this solution should be recommended.
4) An inflatable tunnel enclosing and pressing the partners together. The
partners faced each other in the standard missionary posture. The tunnel
enclosed the partners roughly from the knees to waist and pressed them
together with an air pressure of approximately 0.01 standard atmospheres.
Once properly aroused, the uniform pressure obtained from the tunnel was
sufficient to allow fairly normal marital relations, but getting aroused
while in the tunnel was difficult, and once aroused outside the tunnel,
getting in was difficult. This problem made the entire approach largely
unusable.
5) The same inflatable tunnel used in run 4, but enclosing the partners legs
only. The partners faced each other in the missionary position.
6) The same inflatable tunnel used in run 4, but with the partners in the
posture used for run 2.
Foreplay was satisfactory with both approaches; in the second case, we found
that it could be accomplished inside the tunnel, quite unlike our experience
with run 4. Unfortunately, we were unable to achieve entry with either
approach.
A general disadvantage of the inflatable tunnel approach was that the tunnel
itself tended to get sticky with sweat and other discharges. We feel that
the difficulty of keeping a tunnel clean in zero-G makes these solutions
most unsatisfactory.
7) The standard missionary posture, augmented by having the female hook her
legs around the male's thighs and both partners hug each other.
8) The posture used in run 3, but with the female holding herself against
the male by gripping his buttocks with her heels.
Initially, these were very exciting and promising approaches, but as the
runs approached their climaxes, an unexpected problem arose. One or the one
or the other partner tended to let go, and the hold provided by the
remaining partner was insufficient to allow continued thrusts. We think that
partners with sufficient self-control might be able to use these positions,
but we found them frustrating.
9) The posture used in run 2, but with the male using his hands to hold the
female while the female used her heels to hold the male's thighs.
Most of the responsibility for success rested on the male here, and we were
successful after a series of false starts, but we did not find the
experience to be particularly rewarding.
10) Each partner gripping the other's head between their thighs and hugging
the other's hips with their arms.
This was the only run involving non-procreative marital relations, and it
was included largely because it provided the greatest number of distinct
ways for each partner to hold the other. This 4 points redundant hold was
good enough that we found this solution to be most satisfactory. In fact, it
was more rewarding than analogous postures used in a gravitational field.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
RECOMMENDATION
We recommend that married couples considering maintaining their marital
relations during a space mission be provided with an elastic belt such as we
used for run 3 (see Appendix II). In addition, we advise that a training
program be developed that recommends the solutions used in runs 3 and 10 and
warns against the problems encountered in runs 7 and 8.
We recognize that any attempt by NASA to recommend approaches to marital
relationships will be politically risky, but we feel that, especially in
cases where long missions are planned, thought be given to screening couples
applying to serve on such missions for their ability to accept or adapt to
the solutions used in runs 3 and 10.
NASA Contractor Report 3490A University of (NAME DELETED)
Introduction
Support for the commonsensical observation that male/female subjects can
conduct normal marital relations in a zero G environment with mechanical
assistance has been deemed feasible based on the experiments outlined in
reports NASW-xxxx, NAS1-xxxx, and NASW-xxxx.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Method
The adaptation of current experiments in artificial eye-hand coordination
through application of neural networks coupled with on going cooperating
redundant wrist manipulators was performed. The basic paradigm involved
attaching each subject to a manipulator and coordinating the motion of the
subjects through a two hidden-layer back-error propagation neural network.
The output of the neural network stage was fed into a backward- chaining
rule based system in order to achieve optimal control of the manipulators.
Two different configurations were tested. The first setting involved the
application of a single hold manipulator attached via a rigid waist device.
The second configuration, believed to be more stable, involved attachment
via three bands that can be arranged in different configurations in order to
match the local differences of the particular subjects.
Attachment of the subjects to the harness was achieved through an
electrically excited velcro-like coupling, VELEE-2, see reference NASW-
5641. This arrangement allowed the subject to experiment with different
attachment points via vocal command to the manipulators' control system.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Conclusion
The effectiveness of the system was validated through twelve experiments.
During the course of these experiments it was determined that the use of the
redundant manipulator allowed for single subject use of the system as a
unisexual device. We believe that this could be of great importance for long
duration flights were the subject can not find a suitable partner or the
availability of a opposite configured SO is limited.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
__ __
/ )_ '_/ ( '/_/_ David Siltz
/(_/(/\//(/ __)/( / /_ da...@pnw.opensys.com
====================================================
I'm shootin' pool, Fats. When I miss you can shoot.
Matthew Skala
D> Experiment 8 Postflight Summary
D> NASA publication 14-307-1792
D> possible approaches to continued marital relations in the zero-G orbital
D> environment provided by the STS-75 shuttle mission.
Unfortunately, NASA's WWWeb system claims that STS-75 is scheduled to
launch February 22, 1996. As a result, this very interesting
"postflight summary" seems somewhat unlikely.
There are other problems with this report. For one thing, I wouldn't
expect an official NASA document to use the phrase "zero-G". I thought
they were consistently calling it "microgravity". The teledildonic bit
at the end is also rather unlikely, and seems to be tacked on; it's not
in the same style as the rest of the report.
I wouldn't expect to hear NASA say "oppositely configured SO" - "SO" is
a Usenetism, and "oppositely configured" acknowledges the existence of
"same configured" partners. "Don't ask, don't tell" is all very well,
but I think it will be a LONG time before the US knowingly launches any
non-heterosexuals. The referenced "single subject use of the system as
a unisexual device" is a very practical idea. But after what happened
to the Surgeon General, I don't think any US government agencies will be
talking about such ideas for quite a while.
I'm also a little dubious about the idea of having the, um,
experimenters review all the video tapes immediately after the, um,
experiments. Seems to me that when you've got astronauts in orbit at a
tremendous per-minute cost, you don't want them spending that time
watching porno flicks that could as easily be analysed on the ground.
And if such tapes were ever made, we would have seen them on the Net.
:-)
--
Matthew "The Coroner" Skala, VE7MSK * Hunting ears, Can make a bull - *
Sysop of Ansuz BBS (604) 642-7820 * But eyes, And brains, Make spacefen - *
msk...@island.amtsgi.bc.ca * And fools, Make only, Corpses - * - Brin
http://www.islandnet.com/~mskala/ Gender War conscientious objector ATUDA
* RM 1.3 00829 * It's good to be able to return to a previously-saved life.
Shane Stezelberger
GLA...@lerc.nasa.gov says...
>Actually, bedding on the moon could be made of
>a sack full of dust/sand (the finer components
>of lunar regolith). It's not soft like a matress
>per se, but a sand bed can be moderately confortable--
>think of all the people dozing on the beach-- or
>condider the "bean-bag" style chair.
>
>Geoffrey A. Landis,
Ummm... better make that mattress cover tighter
than any waterbed. Whenever I go to the beach, I get
sand in my soda can. The Apollo guys had the same problem
with excess regolith clinging to their suits. At the least,
dust in a habitat will make the hab smell like sulphur.
There could be problems with inhalation, ingestion,
accumulation on electronic parts, abrasion of ECLSS
components (breathing-air filters, par exemple), etc.
For further discussion on effects of lunar dust in lunar
habs, see _Engineering, Construction, and Ops in Space_
proceedings of ASCE (?), recent conference proceedings.
Shane
--
Shane Stezelberger
R 227 Vawter Hall, VPI
Blacksburg, VA 24060-0017
tel:(540) 232-4325 email: sst...@vt.edu
Make the world a better place to leave...
Doug Weathers
Stezelberger) wrote:
>In article <49vpk6$8...@sulawesi.lerc.nasa.gov>,
>GLA...@lerc.nasa.gov says...
>
>>Actually, bedding on the moon could be made of
>>a sack full of dust/sand (the finer components
>>of lunar regolith). It's not soft like a matress
>>per se, but a sand bed can be moderately confortable--
>>think of all the people dozing on the beach-- or
>>condider the "bean-bag" style chair.
>>
>>Geoffrey A. Landis,
>
>Ummm... better make that mattress cover tighter
>than any waterbed. Whenever I go to the beach, I get
>sand in my soda can.
[snipped material about problems with lunar dust]
It occurs to me that at 1/6g, almost any surface will be comfortable.
This whole discussion may be moot.
That said, how about a Beta cloth bag containing fiberglass? Or perhaps a
bag full of smooth glass beads, a la the bean bag chair? Or an air
mattress? Fiberglass cloth stretched on a frame, like an Army cot?
How about taking the stalks of the lunar wheat we'll be growing down in
the tunnels and making a straw tick mattress?
I'm getting silly, but this looks like a fairly simple problem to solve.
--
Doug Weathers, NetWare Administrator | I do not speak | On a clear
weat...@metro.or.gov | for Metro, only | disk, you can
Metro, Portland, OR USA | for myself. | seek forever
Simon Rowland
On Earth, what makes you uncomfortable is too much weight resting on
(ie squishing) one section of your skin.
On the Moon, there is no such problem.
So, all you need are a grid of plastic fishing wires, or a sheet of
lunar metal. A flat slab of titanium would be more comfy then a waterbed
on Earth.
I personally like the fishing wire idea (partly because it's mine :).
They are removable, so if one breaks, it is unhooked at both ends and
replaced. Teh bed cold colapse for extra experimentation room by day
(ummm...you know what I mean).
Soiled wires go out the airlock for 20 minutes, and the vacuum boils
and contaminants off. Or they can be replaced