Rosie Palms in Orbit: Astronauts Advised Against Masturbating in Space… Or Were They?

Despite claims that masturbation in space may not be a good idea, one medical adviser in the past reportedly suggested the activity as a way to prevent prostate problems.

Male astronauts have been cautioned against pleasuring themselves while in space, due to concerns over the havoc a stray shot with one’s bodily fluids might cause, the New York Post reports.

According to the newspaper, a NASA scientist said that a runaway droplet of sperm could accidentally impregnate a female astronaut on board the same craft.

This issue was apparently brought up during a discussion between popular TV show host and comedian Conan O’Brien and NASA engineer Smythe Mulikan, when the former asked the latter if he had ever sent porn to the ISS.

Fact-checking website Snopes, however, disputes the claim made by the NY Post and several other media outlets, pointing out that Mulikan merely said he never sent porn into space, while the phrase about rogue sperm possibly impregnating female astronauts was uttered by O’Brien’s co-host Matt Gourley, who is a comedian and not a NASA scientist.

“Three female astronauts can be impregnated by the same man from the same session,” Gourley said as the podcast participants jokingly discussed what would happen if someone were to watch porn on a space station and where the ejaculated semen might end up.

“Because the semen flies around?” O’Brien inquired, with Gourley responding: “Uh-huh. And finds its way.”

When Sona Movsesian, who also took part in the podcast as a co-host, asked if the women “are all naked” in this hypothetical scenario, Gourley promptly replied: “Well it’s space porn.”

Snopes also notes that while NASA seems rather tight-lipped on the subject, masturbation in space is “likely safe and possible,” and points out that astronaut Michael Collin mentioned in his 1989 book “Liftoff” that one medical adviser even encouraged masturbation in space to prevent problems with the prostate.