Gender Composition and Crew Cohesion During Long-Duration Space Missionsgender-homogenous crews exhibit similar, and at times higher, levels of cohesion
than gender-heterogeneous crews in settings similar to spaceflight.
In this chapter, we concentrated on just one piece of this puzzle related to the
gender composition of the crew and how the mixture of men and women affects
the crew’s task and interpersonal cohesion. Our conclusion, based on available
research from space, space analogs, and other team-related activities, is that a crew
composed of both women and men is the right choice for extended missions to the
International Space Station, rendezvous missions with asteroids, and, one day, the
first human mission to Mars.