Dr Levin has found that little is known about sexual physiology in space, and how people’s bodies work in these unusual conditions. “There’s the effect of the absence of gravity; the effect of radiation; and the effect of being caught up in the very small environment with a lot of other people. All these things are going to have effects on human sexuality and reproduction. At the moment the attitude is: don’t have sex in space because we can’t cope with it. But sooner or later it’s going to be a much greater problem, when we have long voyages – say three years to Mars.

I think the mixed crew space flight is going to be a real problem for both sexes. At the moment it’s usually that there’s one female, or two females and a larger number of males. But it will be interesting to think what would happen if you had six females and one male.” There are scientific advantages for woman in space. “They use less oxygen, they use less food, they are equipped intellectually just as much as men. And they can also move objects physically just as much as me because of course, there’s no weight.” Is an all-women crew likely?” I don’t think so; men control the funds in space research. I think they would look aghast, although it would be the more sensible thing to do.” What about the reproduction – having babies in space? “There’re too many problems at the moment to allow somebody to go through with this; although you can never tell with human beings. Nature will win out in the end.”

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