In 1992, when an American space shuttle landed smoothly and two astronauts, a man and a woman, were lifted out of the cabin, a group of reporters who had been waiting for a long time swarmed up.
How are you feeling now, and are you feeling unwell?”
What kind of difficulties did you encounter in space?”
"Did you have a 'relationship' on the plane?”
I don't know which "ignorant" reporter asked such a question, which made the two astronauts instantly blush to the base of their necks, and other reporters also started to gossip and began to ask about this obscure topic.
The conference was released, broadcast live on the whole network, tens of millions of people, and at the same time**.
We all know that American journalists' problems are always "unexpected", so they have fought wits and courage with our country's *** spokesman, but the reporter who paid attention to "gender relations" at that time was not a whim.
Because, the two astronauts, a man and a woman, are actually a husband and wife!
The two astronauts were named Mark Lee and Jane Davis (hereinafter referred to as Little Lee and Little Dai), and the space shuttle they were flying on was the famous "Endeavour".
At 10:23 a.m. on September 12, 1992, I saw an order from NASA, and the three engines of the "Endeavour" were ignited one after another.
Soon, a building-like space shuttle clattered into the sky, smoke dispersed, and flames soared into the sky.
Good!No**!
Watching the shuttle take off, a crowd on the ground crackled and clapped in celebration.
But at the same time, NASA's reaction was completely different, with solemn faces and cold sweat oozing from their foreheads.
It turned out that Xiao Li and Xiao Dai had been hiding their relationship and secretly got married a few weeks before the mission, and it was not until the moment the space shuttle went into the sky that people knew about their husband and wife, which was against the relevant rules and regulations.
Why do you say that?Because Xiao Li and Xiao Dai's behavior is very irresponsible.
Six years ago, the US aerospace industry had just experienced a heavy blow, and the space shuttle "Challenger", which carried seven people into space, disintegrated in mid-air, killing all the astronauts on board.
After learning from the painful experience, when the US Congress approved the construction plan of the new space shuttle program, it also asked NASA to fully guarantee the safety of the aerospace industry and prevent similar tragedies from occurring.
Among them, it is forbidden for husband and wife to fly together, because the existence of emotional bonds is very likely to affect the judgment of work, bring uncertainties, and thus produce potential safety hazards.
But the immediate replacement is already impossible, and at the emergency meeting of the space agency, the senior ** of the United States can only ask for remedial measures.
They are all good astronauts, and all we can do now is believe in them. ”
Fortunately, the couple astronauts are all capable and high-quality talents, and their subsequent outstanding performance has gradually relieved the leaders of the ground command.
Xiao Li is responsible for some established scientific experiments in this space mission, while Xiao Dai is responsible for debugging and controlling equipment to assist in the smooth progress of the experiment, and the two can be described as having a tacit understanding.
Eventually, the shuttle returned smoothly and landed on the runway, slowly braking under the help of a parachute.
With this layer of "husband and wife" filters, the reporters who came to squat for interviews were densely packed, all came to grab some breaking news, and among them, some people asked naughty questions.
"Space travel is so romantic, I have a friend who thinks you might have some 'intimacy', do you really do that?”
Such a question naturally made the young couple shy, and their answers were also vague and vague.
Our mission to space is for the cause of human science and exploration, and our attention is focused on work, as for private life, ......That's not our task. ”
seems to have answered, but in fact, it seems that nothing has been said, whether the two have a story as people guess, this is really unknown, which makes the people who eat melons inevitably a little disappointed.
So is it scientifically feasible to have an "intimate relationship" in space?
In fact, scientists have long been concerned about the topic of "the continuation of human beings in the space environment".
After all, the earth is currently the only suitable place for human beings to live, but if one day the earth has an unimaginable serious natural and man-made disaster like in movies and games and is forced to go to space, will the vast universe be able to accept us who are "wandering"?
So in a strict sense, this red-faced question is not entertainment gossip, but an experimental exploration related to the life and death of human beings, which is quite serious.
The former Soviet Union, which was the first to carry out space business, carried out an animal mating project in space in 1977.
A group of mice that were the subjects of the experiment lived together in a small tray, mated and became pregnant.
While the scientists of the former Soviet Union were cheering, two pregnant mice were unexpectedly miscarried, and the little life finally failed to appear in front of the world.
The United States, as a former competitor, was not far behind, and also sent laboratory rats into space, but the originally lustful and restless laboratory rats suddenly entered the "sage mode" as soon as they went to space, and instantly calmed down.
Even the lab rats that later became pregnant were quickly miscarried, and the cubs they gave birth to were not healthy.
Scientists have speculated about this phenomenon, two of which are widely supported.
First, there may be substances in space that affect the hormone secretion of laboratory ratsSecond, the unfamiliar environment of space makes laboratory rats fearful, resulting in low desire to reproduce.
Isn't there a successful case, in fact, it is not, for example, the research team of Yamanashi University in Japan has successfully cultivated "space laboratory mice" through "in vitro fertilization".
How did they do it?
In August 2013, Japan's Yamanashi University sent vacuum-freeze-dried laboratory mouse sperm to the International Space Station through the "Stork" unmanned cargo spacecraft.
Upon arrival at the International Space Station, the sperm were transferred to the refrigerator of Japan's "Nobobo" experiment module for cryopreservation, where they were exposed to radiation from the universe 150 times above the ground for nine months.
In May 2014, the sperm of irradiated rats returned from a U.S. spacecraft and returned to the research institute at the University of Yamanashi in Japan to artificially inseminate female rats.
Through experiments, the researchers found that the survival rate and health of the cubs in the experimental mice that were fertilized in vitro were no different from those of ordinary mice.
In other words, the space environment did not interfere with the reproduction of mammals, and the germ cells of living organisms were not significantly affected by the high-intensity radiation environment.
So what exactly are the factors that really affect reproduction in space?In fact, it is the discomfort caused by the microgravity environment.
On Earth, we can feel the common feeling of apples falling, rivers flowing eastward, people jumping, and the earth shaking.
But when I got to space, it was like returning to the time when the chaos of heaven and earth before Pangu woke up, with no reality under my feet, no boundaries on my head, no laws, and everything flying sideways.
In the space environment, couples can't experience the feeling of physical contact and blood gushing, and two people are like ants struggling in their hands, can they still be interested?
Weightlessness has not only a psychological impact, but also a physiological one.
It will reduce the hormonal secretion ability of men and women, so that two people cannot smell the "breath of love", which is also a big reason why the lively mouse becomes "sage mode".
Even if you really have a "heart", the environment of microgravity will make you "powerless".
As we all know, "intimate behavior" needs to be supported by physiological excitement, the heart beats faster, and the blood also needs to achieve certain circulating conditions.
However, these physiological phenomena may be hindered in space and affect the normal life of both sexes.
And past experience has shown that if human beings are in the space environment for a long time, they often face the problems of bone loss and muscle atrophy, resulting in weakness and weakness of the human body.
In this way, it can be difficult to enjoy a romantic time in space.
If the crystallization process of love is divided into three steps: "giving love", "passing love", and "receiving love", then this first step is basically impossible, and the second step is also full of hardships.
When the three astronauts of Shenzhou-14 were teaching in space, we had already seen the attitude of the liquid in space, and they were no longer invisible water, overflowing everywhere, but turned into a "rotten" ball.
In the same way, even if a man and a woman in love are full of passion, it is difficult for their "love" to pass on to each other and form a fertilized egg.
Even if it is really lucky that a pair of sperm and eggs have completed the great bonding work, in addition to the second step of transmission, there is also the difficulty of "receiving" the third step.
The reason is that in the space environment, the progesterone level in the human body will fall silently, and it is a key part of affecting conception and placental growth.
Without its output, there will be signs of miscarriage in pregnant mice, and the fetus will not be saved.
And can human newborns really survive in a harsh cosmic environment, and will there be a "mutation" phenomenon of genetic mutation?These are still unknowns.
Obviously, it is still very difficult to have a "relationship" in space at present, and as for the so-called gossip, it is estimated that it is more just ridicule.
If we want to accomplish this feat, at least the simulation of the earth's gravity environment and the protection measures against cosmic radiation are all problems that need to be solved, and these are estimated to be completed by the efforts of several generations or even more than ten generations.
But what we can do at the moment is to protect our disaster-ridden planet, and don't really come to the crisis of the survival of the race, and run to study the "laws of cosmic survival".