Introduction: Psychology and the U.S. Space ProgramIn 1972, the National Academy of Sciences released the report of a study
panel chaired by Donald B. Lindsley of the University of California, Los Angeles
(UCLA).^23 The panel sought “to indicate the blocks of research, roughly in order
of priority that will be most fruitful in the years ahead in coming to grips with the
problems of long-duration missions . . . . In this, there is little doubt in the minds
of the study participants that the difficulties are formidable, the unknowns signif-
icant, and the prerequisite research extensive . . . .”^24 Many of the experts were
interested in space physiology and medicine, but the panel also included psychol-
ogists with expertise in stress, social interaction, and behavior in unusual environ-
ments. In addition to recommending basic biomedical and life-support research, the
panel urged studies of skilled performance, environmental habitability, group pro-
cesses, interpersonal interaction, and the relationship of the space crew “microso-
ciety” to the larger flight team. In 1977, partially in response to Lindsley’s report,
Mary M. Connors and her associates began a review of the then-current founda-
tions for understanding behavior during anticipated Space Shuttle and space sta-
tion missions.^25 Their report, not published until 1985, identified a middle ground
between narrowly focused experiments and bold generalizations. They adopted an
open systems approach and addressed topics at the individual, small group, and
organizational levels.
In the late 1980s, the Committee on Space Biology and Medicine of the
National Research Council gave further impetus to psychology, noting that
“[a]lthough the evidence is fragmentary, it seems likely that behavioral and social
problems have already occurred during long-term missions . . . . An understanding
of the problems and their amelioration is essential if man desires to occupy space
for extended periods of time. Even more important from a scientific perspective, it
seems likely that significant advances in our basic knowledge of human interaction
- D. B. Lindsley, ed., Human Factors in Long Duration Spaceflight (Washington, DC: National
Academy of Sciences, 1972). - Ibid., p. 15.
- M. M. Connors, A. A. Harrison, and F. R. Akins, Living Aloft: Human Requirements for
Extended Spaceflight (Washington, DC: NASA SP-483, 1985).