Ananova:

Experts are probing whether sex would be possible for people living in space for long periods.

Harvey Wichman, a consultant to MirCorp - which has leased the former Russian space station for commercial space travel - says it is a dilemma that will have to be addressed because it will involve two people floating in the air - which would be 'tricky'.

One story, recounted in former NASA consultant Harry Stine's book Life in Space, claims weightless sex was simulated in a buoyancy tank at a space flight centre in Alabama, reports the Melbourne Age.

According to Stine, it was difficult but not impossible. He said the act worked much better when a third person assisted by holding one of the others still.

Psychologists say space sex could cause problems when there are break-ups or jealousy. NASA astronauts currently abstain - they have no privacy and are on display to mission control 24 hours a day.

NASA chief scientist Kathie Olsen says the American space agency is not looking into ways to facilitate sex in space. "It's not really an area of interest," she states.