---
title: "Scientists: Unfortunately, Astronauts Will Need to Bone in Space"
description: "As crewed missions to space venture deeper and deeper, two scientists argue that space agencies ought not to ignore astronauts' human needs."
date: "2020-02-24"
modified: "2020-02-24"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/scientists-astronauts-bone-space"
categories:
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "romance"
  - "sex robots"
  - "space"
  - "the digest"
---

# Scientists: Unfortunately, Astronauts Will Need to Bone in Space

![As crewed missions to space venture deeper and deeper, two scientists argue that space agencies ought not to ignore astronauts' human needs.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/scientists-astronauts-bone-space.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## Dry Spell

As space agencies work to launch crewed missions deeper and deeper into space, they tend to overlook one crucial variable: [astronauts are people](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/sperm-banks-space-colonizing-mars>), meaning they sometimes get horny.

That's the problem presented in an [essay published in *The Conversation*](<https://theconversation.com/sex-in-space-could-technology-meet-astronauts-intimate-needs-131630>) last week: that NASA and other groups are failing to prepare for crewmembers' human needs. In other words, astronauts may face undue psychological and mental strain due to space abstinence.

## Mission: Uranus

In order to [accommodate astronauts' needs](<https://futurism.com/sperm-space-nasa>), the *Conversation* essay argues that space agencies should embrace high-tech sex toys, and especially AI-enabled sex robots that could act out the role of a partner.

"Astronauts, despite their rigorous training, remain humans with needs," write the essay's two authors: Concordia University psychology grad student Simon Dubé and Dave Anctil, a Université Laval researcher focusing on the societal impacts of AI.

Because crew sizes will be extremely limited, they argue, [human relations](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/cosmonauts-refuse-semen-samples-space>) would be ill-advised due to the low chances people find a compatible partner and the risk of an awkward breakup. Ergo, sexbots.

## Deep Space

The problem is that a growing number of experts are rallying around the idea that sex robots, even with AI-crafted semblances of human personality, are a [poor replacement for human partners](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/sex-robots-cause-psychological-damage>) — at best.

If an astronaut is [a digisexual](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/digisexuals-love-lust-robots>) regardless, more power to them. But to others, getting an official NASA-issued sexbot before lift-off might make a long journey to space seem even lonelier and psychologically-damaging than before.

**READ MORE:** [Sex in space: Could technology meet astronauts’ intimate needs?](<https://theconversation.com/sex-in-space-could-technology-meet-astronauts-intimate-needs-131630>) \[*The Conversation*\]

**More on romance:** *[Evolutionary Biologist: Mars Colonists Will Mutate Really Fast](<https://futurism.com/mars-colonists-mutation-evolution>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)