Psychology of Space Exploration
In the 1990s, Galarza and Holland began developing a scientifically defensi-
ble select-in process that would screen for personal abilities to help people live and
work within small teams under conditions of isolation and confinement.^71 By using
highly qualified subject-matter experts, job analysis, and documented validation
techniques, they sought to meet the high standards for selection established by the
Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychologists (SIOP).^72 Although these
researchers developed a profile of needed knowledge, skills, and abilities, NASA’s
prohibition against obtaining in-training or on-the-job performance ratings effec-
tively killed any longitudinal or predictive validation of the proposed astronaut
select-in procedures. Today, all astronaut candidate applicants spend several hours
completing psychological tests and then undergo extensive psychological and psy-
chiatric interviews. To prevent coaching, the specific tests and interview content
are not publicly available. The current selection process resembles the selection
procedures for other high-risk jobs and incorporates highly validated tests that are
quantitatively scored, along with in-depth, semistructured interviews.
Well before Apollo astronauts set foot on the Moon, there were political pres-
sures to increase the diversity of the astronaut corps by including women and repre-
sentatives of different racial and ethnic groups. Accommodating people with different
cultural backgrounds became a practical matter in the Apollo-Soyuz rendezvous, in
the course of the Russian “guest cosmonaut” program, in Shuttle missions with inter-
national crews, and, of course, aboard the ISS. Successfully managing cultural, occu-
pational, and other differences in space is likely to become even more crucial as
highly trained professionals are joined by industrial workers and tourists.
Margaret Weitekamp recounts how, at the inception of Project Mercury, an Air
Force flight surgeon, Don Flickenger, helped initiate a program known as WISE—
Women in Space Earliest.^73 Women offered certain potential advantages over men;
one of the most notable of these was their smaller size (and reduced life-support
requirements), which would make them easier to lift into orbit and keep alive at
Document 1999-01-2096, presented at the International Conference on Environmental
Systems, Denver, CO, July 1999).
- Ibid.
- Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Principles for the Validation and Use of
Personnel Selection Procedures (Washington, DC: SIOP, 2003). - Weitekamp, Right Stuff, Wrong Sex.