BEHAVIORAL ISSUES ASSOCIATED WITH ISOLATION AND CONFINEMENT: REVIEW
AND ANALYSIS OF ASTRONAUT JOURNALS (JOURNALS)
Research Area: Human Behavior and Performance
Expeditions: 8-18, 29-ongoing
Principal Investigator(s): ● Jack W. Stuster, PhD, CPE, Anacapa Sciences, Inc, Santa
Barbara, California
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
Behavioral Issues Associated with Isolation and Confinement: Review and Analysis of Astronaut
Journals (Journals) obtains information on behavioral and human issues that are relevant to the
design of equipment and procedures and sustained human performance during extended-
duration missions. Study results provide information to help prepare for future missions to low-
Earth orbit and beyond.
EARTH BENEFITS
Results from this study help to improve the behavioral performance of people living and
working under a variety of conditions here on Earth.
SPACE BENEFITS
Studies conducted on Earth have shown that analyzing the content of journals and diaries is an
effective method for identifying the issues that are most important to a person. The method is
based on the reasonable assumption that the frequency that an issue or category of issues is
mentioned in a journal reflects the importance of that issue or category to the writer. The tone
of each entry (positive, negative, or neutral) and phase of the expedition also are variables of
interest. Study results will lead to recommendations for the design of equipment, facilities,
procedures, and training to help sustain behavioral adjustment and performance during long-
duration space expeditions to the ISS, asteroids, moon, Mars, and beyond.
RESULTS
Results from the Journals investigation provided the first measurable data from space
operations on which to base a rank-ordering of behavioral issues. Personal journals generated
by 10 NASA astronauts who lived and worked aboard the International Space Station (ISS) for
an average of 188 days were analyzed to obtain information concerning a wide range of
behavioral issues. Responses to questions asked before, during, and after the expeditions
suggested that living and working aboard the ISS were not as difficult as the astronauts
anticipated before starting their 6-month tours of duty. Astronauts reported that they
benefited personally from writing in their journals because it helped them maintain perspective
on their work and relations with others. It was apparent from the journal entries analyzed that
conditions aboard the ISS were far better than tolerable but short of what was necessary to
support optimum human performance for sustained periods of routine operations. Crews
performed admirably, as expected, and the journals contained many positive statements about
living and working in space; however, the tone and content of some entries described problems
and conveyed levels of frustration and annoyance. It was also noticed that the crew members