Sex in space—it’s a topic that has been ignored, joked about, or outright dismissed for far too long. But if we’re serious about building a permanent human presence on Mars and beyond, it’s time to start having real conversations about intimacy, relationships, and reproduction in space.
In this episode of Everyday Mars, host Joe Sweeney sits down with Dr. Simon Dubé, a Research Fellow at the Kinsey Institute, Affiliate Professor at UQAM’s Department of Sexology, and Chief of Psychosocial Medicine at ASRI. As one of the researchers who coined the term space sexology, Dr. Dubé is working to break the taboo and make human intimacy a central discussion in space exploration. Together, they explore why sex in space has remained a hushed topic, what risks we face by avoiding the conversation, and what we can learn from communities that have long navigated alternative relationship models—like LGBTQ+, kink, and swingers. They also discuss why abstinence is a terrible idea, the complications of falling in love with your superior officer, the role of erotic friendships in long-duration missions, and even the potential future of space sex bots and Martian romance.
It’s time to rethink how we talk about intimacy in space—because the future of human settlement depends on it.
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A big thanks to Dr. Simon Dubé for all his work around space sexology and his insight into love and sex on Mars, Nick Thorburn for our stellar theme music and to my family for supporting my endless Mars obsession.
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