Psychology of Space Exploration
1959, America was enthralled by the “virtuous, no nonsense, able and professional
astronauts” who “put a very human face on the grandest technological endeavor in
history” and “represented the very best that we had to offer.”^19 From the beginning,
the press was never motivated to dig up dirt on the astronauts; rather, reporters
sought confirmation that they embodied America’s deepest virtues. “They wanted
to demonstrate to their readers that the Mercury seven strode the Earth as latter-
day saviors whose purity coupled with noble deeds would purge this land of the evils
of communism by besting the Soviet Union on the world stage.”^20 Today, people
look back longingly to a simpler era when good was good and evil was evil, and,
at least in memory, heroes did not disappoint. Psychological research or, worse yet,
the faintest possibility that a mission would be compromised by psychological fac-
tors could be a public relations nightmare.
For project managers and engineers, faith in the right stuff helps cut costs
because the person can be engineered out of the equation. This faith simplifies
and speeds the design process as there is no need to waste time consulting behavior
experts. Sliding by psychological issues preserves autonomy and decision-making
power. If behavioral professionals were to serve in an advisory capacity, mission
directors would have to share control, or at least seriously consider the opinion of
behavioral experts. Why should managers complicate their task by bringing more
players—psychologists, psychiatrists, anthropologists, human factors experts—to
the table?
For astronauts, the stereotype of the right stuff helps maintain flight status.^21 It
deters snooping and prying that might suggest a real or imagined blemish that could
lead to mission disqualification, a most undesirable personal consequence. After all,
part of the heroic myth is that under the greatest of adversities, people with the
right stuff can still get the job done! Why risk all by getting involved in a research
program that could lead to new reasons for disqualification? George Low, manager
of Project Apollo, advised subordinates that identity issues, past or present, were
- R. D. Launius, “Heroes in a Vacuum: The Apollo Astronaut as Cultural Icon” (American
Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics [AIAA] Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit,
Reno, NV, 13 January 2005), p. 4. - Ibid., p. 4.
- P. A. Santy, Choosing the Right Stuff: The Psychological Selection of Astronauts and
Cosmonauts (Westport, CT: Praeger/Greenwood Publishing Group, 1994).