Chapter 7
Flying with Strangers: Postmission Reflections of
Multinational Space Crews
Peter Suedfeld^1
Department of Psychology
University of British Columbia
Kasia E. Wilk
Youth Forensic Psychiatric Services Research and Evaluation Department
Ministry of Children and Family Development
Lindi Cassel
Department of Occupational Therapy
Providence Health Care
ABSTRACT
After the Space Age began as part of the national rivalry between the USSR
and the United States, space exploration gradually took on a multinational char-
acter as both countries included astronauts from their respective allies, and eventu-
ally from each other, in their missions. This trend became institutionalized in the
Shuttle-Mir program and in the construction of the International Space Station
(ISS). The latter is the first truly international, as opposed to multinational, space
capsule, in that it does not belong to and was not built by one country. In previous
cases, one national space agency was always the host and crewmembers from other
nations were perceived and treated as guests. This “guest” status, which usually
- This research was made possible by Contract No. 9F007-033006 with the Canadian Space
Agency and is part of the project Long-term Effects After Prolonged Spaceflight (LEAPS).
A briefer version of the chapter was presented at the meeting of the American Psychological
Association in San Francisco, CA, in August 2007. Correspondence should be addressed to
Peter Suedfeld, Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC
V6T 1Z4, Canada, or [email protected].