On Orbit and Beyond: Psychological Perspectives on Human Spaceflight PDF
Preview On Orbit and Beyond: Psychological Perspectives on Human Spaceflight
ON ORBIT AND BEYOND SPACE TECHNOLOGY LIBRARY Published jointly by Microcosm Press and Springer The Space Technology Library Editorial Board Managing Editor: James R. Wertz, Microcosm, Inc., El Segundo, CA, USA; Editorial Board: Val A. Chobotov, Consultant on Space Hazards, Aerospace Corporation, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Michael L. DeLorenzo, Permanent Professor and Head, Dept. of Astronautics, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Spring, CO, USA; Roland Dore´, Professor and Director, International Space University, Strasbourg, France; Robert B. Giffen, Professor Emeritus, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Spring, CO, USA; Gwynne Gurevich, Space Exploration Technologies, Hawthorne, CA, USA; Wiley J. Larson, Professor, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Spring, CO, USA; Tom Logsdon, Senior Member of Technical Staff, Space Division, Rockwell International, Downey, CA, USA; F. Landis Markley, Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA, Greenbelt, MD, USA; Robert G. Melton, Associate Professor of Aerospace Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA; Keiken Ninomiya, Professor, Institute of Space & Astronautical Science, Sagamihara, Japan; Jehangir J. Pocha, Letchworth, Herts, UK; Frank J. Redd, Professor and Chair, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Dept., Utah State University, Logan, UT, USA; Rex W. Ridenoure, Jet Microcosm, Inc., Torrance, CA, USA; Malcolm D. Shuster, Professor of Aerospace Engineering, Mechanics and Engineering Science, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA; Gael Squibb, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA; Martin Sweeting, Professor of Satellite Engineering, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK For further volumes: www.springer.com/series/6575 Douglas A. Vakoch Editor On Orbit and Beyond Psychological Perspectives on Human Spaceflight Editor Douglas A. Vakoch California Institute of Integral Studies San Francisco CA, USA and SETI Institute Mountain View CA, USA ISBN 978-3-642-30582-5 ISBN 978-3-642-30583-2 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-30583-2 Springer Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London Library of Congress Control Number: 2012953092 # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. Exempted from this legal reservation are brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis or material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the Copyright Law of the Publisher’s location, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Permissions for use may be obtained through RightsLink at the Copyright Clearance Center. Violations are liable to prosecution under the respective Copyright Law. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication, neither the authors nor the editors nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibility for any errors or omissions that may be made. The publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein. Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com) To Tom Pierson, for his steadfast leadership of research and education at the forefront of space exploration and the search for life beyond Earth . Foreword Space is one of the final frontiers for humankind. This book addresses that final frontier. We humans have progressed from short orbital flights to landing on the Moon and astronauts living in low Earth orbit. Exploration missions to beyond the Moon such as asteroids and into deep space are in the planning stages. I am an applied aerospace psychologist who has had the fortune to participate in the psychological portion of US astronaut selection for the past 22 years. The last 13 years I have worked in the Space Medicine Division, Behavioral Health and Performance Group, Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas. We regularly train, communicate with, and support all US and some International Partner astronauts who have flown on the International Space Station. One point that comes to my mind was the so-called communication strike of the crew on Skylab 4. In November 1973, the final manned mission of this US space station resulted in a conflict between the flight crew and the ground control. The crew’s initial task of unloading and stowing the thousands of items needed for their lengthy mission proved to be overwhelming. The schedule for the activation sequence dictated lengthy work periods with a large variety of tasks to be performed, and crew members soon found themselves tired and behind schedule. As the activation of Skylab progressed, the astronauts complained of being pushed too hard. Ground crews disagreed; they felt that the astronauts were not working long enough or hard enough. During the course of the mission, this culminated in a radio conference to air frustrations. The space crew took a day off from work. Following this, the workload schedule was modified, and by the end of the mission the crew had completed even more work than had been planned before launch. The experiences of the crew and ground controllers provided important lessons in planning subsequent manned spaceflight work schedules. From that incident, we learned how critical it is to educate and train both ground control personnel and space crews in the social psychological issues of spaceflight. On Orbit and Beyond is an important book for many reasons. You will read a historical survey of the role of psychologists and psychiatrists in the evolution of space flight, especially the American experience. Surviving and thriving in the vii viii Foreword extreme space environment is fraught with social challenges as well as simple physical survival. You will discover some of the major social psychological issues of living in low Earth orbit and of future space missions to asteroids and other planets. Advanced technology has led to expensive and complicated space vehicles. Yet we humans have not advanced so quickly. We still have to contend with our narrow margin of life support limits, isolation, confinement, danger, monotony, workload, cultural effects, and personality conflicts. There are only a dozen or so space behavioral health clinicians in the world. As an applied psychologist daily working with my National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, Russian Space Agency, and European Space Agency colleagues, I rely on policymakers, operational managers, and scholars in supporting the astronauts’ psychological challenges. For many years, Dr. Doug Vakoch has labored to ensure that the public has access to and understanding of the social psychology of living in space. In this book, he has gathered together some of the most renowned applied and research experts whose daily lives have been involved with the space program. These authors hail from Canada, China, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, South Africa, and the United States, making this a truly international effort. You will read about data-based evidence and expert opinions. The authors include space social scientists, psychologists, psychiatrists, and researchers. These are the experts in helping policymakers and managers of the US and other Space Programs make wise decisions. The first edition of this project was published by NASA in the NASA History Series as Psychology of Space Exploration: Contemporary Research in Historical Perspective. I am excited to see the second edition published by Springer with the chapters doubling in number. You will see the progress made since the Skylab 4 communication incident. Issues addressed in this edition include a thorough history of psychology’s role and recent progress in the US Space Program, psychological support, the importance of space analog environments, positive aspects of space flight, the role of astronauts’ families, the dynamics of cross-cultural teams in space, autonomy for space crews in spaceflight, and more. All of us, you the reader, those of us in operational settings, current researchers, space program administrators, and future generations are deeply indebted to Dr. Doug Vakoch for his dedicated commitment to this project. Thank you Doug. Walter Sipes, Ph.D. Aerospace Psychologist NASA Johnson Space Center National Aeronautics and Space Administration Preface to the Second Edition Over half a century ago, humankind first entered space when Yuri Gagarin became the first person to orbit Earth on April 12, 1961. Soon afterward, the United States launched its first manned mission to space, and in 2003 China became the third nation to send a human into space. Over the years, spacefarers from over three dozen countries have flown in space in missions that demonstrate increasing international cooperation. On Orbit and Beyond details how the psychological demands of space missions have changed over the decades, requiring increasingly talented and flexible astronauts. The first missions into space were typically brief, lasting only hours or days, and crews were small. The early years of space exploration were marked by competition between the United States and the Soviet Union, and the astronauts who showed “the right stuff” were not only courageous explorers of this new frontier but heroes back home. As an intensely competitive space race has given way to international cooperation over the decades, the challenges of communicating across cultural boundaries and dealing with interpersonal conflicts have become increasingly important, requiring astronauts to develop additional coping skills and sensibilities. The psychological stresses of living and working in space are considerable. In the early days of space exploration, short-duration challenges were faced by close- knit crews from the same country. Over the years we have seen increases in both the duration of space missions and the size of crews, as the Soviet Union established permanent space stations, the United States conducted its Space Shuttle program, and a truly transnational effort gave rise to the International Space Station. As crews more frequently included spacefarers from multiple cultures and missions became longer, the challenges of living in space highlighted the need to examine the psychological dimensions of space exploration in even greater depth. On Orbit and Beyond includes chapters updated since its first incarnation, which was published by NASA as Psychology of Space Exploration: Contemporary Research in Historical Perspective. This revised edition has twice as many chapters as the first edition, with new chapters in every section. In short, this new edition provides a more comprehensive analysis of the challenges of surviving and thriving ix x Preface to the Second Edition in space, as spacefarers deal with the complexities of working effectively with astronauts from other cultures under interpersonally demanding circumstances. With an eye to the future, On Orbit and Beyond closes with a new section that explores how tomorrow’s astronauts will handle the increased autonomy they will face on missions to Mars and beyond. This expansion of attention from Earth’s orbit and the Moon to more distant destinations is a response to changing national priorities for space exploration. For example, in 2010, the Obama administration announced a new target for American astronauts as they travel beyond Earth’s orbit. Rather than establishing a permanent lunar colony, as had been planned previously, NASA is making plans for a manned mission to an asteroid by 2025. By this timeline, a successful asteroid mission will help prepare for a trip to Mars some years later. A mission to the red planet would take 2 years, with no chance of quickly returning to Earth if emergencies arise—a prospect that astronauts have never had to face before. In On Orbit and Beyond, leading space psychologists and psychiatrists provide guidance for coping with such future missions to asteroids, Mars, and beyond—drawing on lessons learned from past missions to the Moon, long-duration stays on space stations orbiting Earth, and analog environments on Earth.
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