Psychology of Space Exploration
was not until the early 1980s that the number of female astronauts and cosmonauts
began to rise. In fact, nearly 20 years passed between Tereshkova’s record-making
flight and Svetlana Savitskaya’s 1982 mission aboard a Russian Soyuz, which was
followed closely by the flight of the first U.S. woman in space, Sally Ride, in 1983.
Today, it is not uncommon for women to conduct extravehicular activities; pilot
or command the Space Shuttle, as Eileen Collins has done twice; or command the
ISS, as in the case of Peggy Whitson.
With the increase in female astronauts and cosmonauts, the number of mixed-
gender crews has also risen. As of 2009, seven crews of men and women had worked
together during long-duration space station missions aboard the USSR’s Salyut sta-
tion, the Soviet/Russian station Mir, or the ISS. As the number of mixed-gender
crews will likely increase in the future, including for voyages to asteroids and then
to Mars, it is prudent to ask if there are any potential limitations to men and women
working together for extended periods of time.
On the surface, this mixture would seem ideal as each gender offers unique and
complimentary skills and abilities to a mission. The behavioral literature is replete with
studies of gender differences in cognition, sensation and perception, and team perfor-
mance in business settings; however, few studies have focused specifically on gender
differences in the context of extended space missions. One question is how the mix-
ture of men and women in space crews affects overall crew performance. In the general
team literature, for example, findings suggest that men and women do work in slightly
different ways that may influence team performance such as leadership style and reac-
tions to stress.^9 Research also suggests that the unique contributions from each gender
often improve team performance in settings such as health care, manufacturing, and
extreme environments, thereby supporting the use of mixed-gender teams.^10
For instance, in some contexts, all-male teams make less accurate and more
overly aggressive decisions than mixed-gender teams.^11 However, these and other
- A. H. Eagly, M. C. Johannesen-Schmidt, and M. L. van Engen, “Transformational,
Transactional, and Laissez-faire Leadership Styles: A Meta-analysis Comparing Men and
Women,” Psychological Bulletin 129, no. 4 (2003): 569–591. - S. L. Bishop, “Evaluating Teams in Extreme Environments: From Issues to Answers,”
Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine 75, no. 7, sect. II (2004): C14–C21. - J. A. LePine, J. R. Hollenbeck, D. R. Ilgen, J. A. Colquitt, and A. Ellis, “Gender
Composition, Situational Strength and Team Decision-making Accuracy: A Criterion