While reading about how the Space Shuttle is returning to Earth carrying two years worth of trash, I couldn’t help but wonder something that I’m sure most people are also wondering: How many condoms do you think are in there?

That thought led me to one I hadn’t thought of for probably 10 years. My friend and I were watching Moonraker and when it got to the end where James Bond is having sex in zero gravity — bodies in missionary position, floating freely about the cabin with a silver blanket draped over them, dangling down as if gravity was there to hold it in place — my friends sister said how impossible that scene is.

“Because,” she said confidently, “There is no friction in space. Sex just won’t work without friction.”

Defined tags for this entry: astronauts, condoms, queries, rants, space, trash