Psychology of Space Exploration
ing established groups), performance and work productivity, communication pat-
terns, team cooperation, and social habitability factors.
The epitome example of chamber research may be the series of four hyperbaric-
chamber studies, sponsored by the European Space Agency and designed to investi-
gate psychosocial functioning, in which groups were confined for periods lasting from
28 to 240 days.^39 Full mission protocols specifying all medical, technical, and opera-
tional parameters approximating expected living conditions of astronauts on a space
station were used. The studies were intended to evaluate the efficacy of various psy-
chosocial monitoring and assessment techniques for implementation on real space
missions, as well as to investigate persistent occurrences of communication and inter-
action breakdowns between on-orbit teams and Mission Control anecdotally reported
from space.^40 A number of opportunities and advances came from these studies, e.g.,
evaluating the efficacy of communication training for space teams or the opportunity
to examine factors involved in an unplanned meltdown between crews precipitated
by differences in cultural attitudes and norms about genders, authority, and control.^41
However, skepticism regarding the verisimilitude of studies in which discontented
members can simply quit has continued to raise real concerns as to how generalizable
the findings from chamber studies are to space missions.
The Middle Ground: Capsule Habitats in Extreme Unusual EnvironmentsOccupying the middle ground between traditional expeditionary missions with
moving trajectories and the artificiality of laboratory spaces designated as space
- G. M. Sandal, R. Vaernes, and H. Ursin, “Interpersonal Relations During Simulated
Space Missions,” Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine 66 (1995): 617; G. M. Sandal,
“Culture and Crew Tension During an International Space Station Simulation: Results From
SFINCSS’99,” Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine 75 (2004): 44. - Kanas, Salnitskiy, Grund, et al., “Social and Cultural Issues During Shuttle/Mir Space
Missions”: 647; Sandal, Vaernes, and Ursin, “Interpersonal Relations During Simulated Space
Missions”: 617; Gushin, Kolintchenko, Efimov, and Davies, “Psychological Evaluation and
Support During EXEMSI”: 283. - Sandal, “Culture and Crew Tension During an International Space Station Simulation”:
44; D. Manzey, ed., Space Psychology: Textbook for Basic Psychological Training of Astronauts
(Cologne, Germany: AM-BMT-DLR-98-009, ESA/EAC, 1998).