Psychology of Space Exploration
Space Station, lunar, and Mars missions. The BCPR represented a major invest-
ment of time and energy, of soliciting and responding to expert advice, and of
building consensus. It recognized that NASA’s organizational chart was not iso-
morphic with the way that research is traditionally organized and tried assidu-
ously to address crucial gaps. The BCPR was a useful mechanism for organizing
biomedical and behavioral research and fostered research that yielded operation-
ally relevant results. Most importantly, it represented a higher level of “buy-in”
to behavioral research on the part of the space agency. Recently, the BCPR has
evolved into the Human Research Program. As of January 2010, six elements com-
pose the Human Research Program. They are the International Space Station
Medical Project, Space Radiation, Human Health Countermeasures, Exploration
Medical Capability, Behavioral Health and Performance, and Space Human Factors
and Habitability.^47 As the mission of NASA changes, the exact delineation of the
Human Research Program may also change.
Also coincident with turn-of-the-millennium space station missions was the
initiation of the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI), a consor-
tium of universities and businesses dedicated to solving the problems of astronauts
who are undertaking long-duration missions. The NSBRI is best viewed as tightly
networked centers of excellence. Members of affiliated organizations form interdis-
ciplinary teams that cut across organizational boundaries and draw strength from
one another. The Institute also provides workshops and retreats for investigators
who are working under the NSBRI umbrella.
Many of the research interests represented in the NSBRI are clearly biomed-
ical—for example, bone and muscle loss, immune disorders, and radiation effects.
Other teams include neurobehavioral and psychosocial factors and human perfor-
mance. For instance, there are studies of crew composition, structure, communi-
cation, and leadership style. Also, there is research on methods to prevent sleep
loss, promote wakefulness, reduce human error, and optimize mental and physical
performance during long-duration spaceflight. Whereas many organizations hope
to extrapolate studies of Earth-bound populations to astronauts and cosmonauts,
- Human Research Program Evidence Book, available at http://humanresearch.jsc.nasa.gov/
elements/smo/hrp_evidence_book.asp (accessed 23 June 2010); NASA, Human Research Program,
available at http://humanresearch.jsc.nasa.gov/about.asp (accessed 25 March 2008).