The “ Mars500 ” project was the most challenging attempt yet to feign the conditions of an expedition to the Red Planet . Anewly published studyassesses the psychological well - being of the gang during their “ mission”—and reveals what it was like to live in cramped quarters with 6 the great unwashed for 520 day .
Why the Mars500 commission does n’t show we ’re psychologically capable of a trip to Mars
At the State Scientific Center of the Russian Federation , every effort was made to simulate the shape of an actual Mars missionary station . An external crew of six volunteers were selected by the Russian Federation , the European Space Agency and the China National Space Administration . They were confined to a facility with a volume and shape like to a space vehicle ; they were assigned work that included both workaday and false emergency events ; they were insulate from the Earth ’s light-headed - non-white cycle and seasonal changes ; and they were made aware that they would be subjected to unremitting media scrutiny .
And how did things go ?
• One crewmember had symptoms of slump during 93 % of the mission .
• battle with mission ascendence were cover five times more often than than conflicts among crewmembers .
• Two crewmembers who had the gamey ratings of stress and forcible exhaustion accounted for 85 % of the perceived conflict .
• Two crewmembers showed neither behavioral perturbation nor write up of psychological distress during the 17 - calendar month menstruation .
Based on these finding , the authors of the written report offer some recommendations :
A progressive sedentariness of the work party was evident through increased nap time and decreased workload ratings with time in mission . This play up the need for cope scheme that address sameness and boredom from humble work load after the first charge quarter , when communication delays with delegacy control became say .
The fact that difference with mission control were reported by crewmembers five times more often than conflict among themselves highlight the grandness of a good relationship between the bunch and mission controllers and the need for a greater involvement of deputation controller in pre - mission education … .Additionally , outstanding crew autonomy might reduce difference between the bunch and mission control .
When all … behavioral and psychological data are considered in aggregate , only two of the six crewmembers … show neither behavioural disturbances nor report of psychological hurt during the 17 - calendar month period of commission confinement . This meta - finding highlight the importance of identifying behavioural , psychological , and biological markers of the characteristics that predispose prospective long - duration blank exploration crewmembers to both effectual and ineffective neurobehavioral and psychosocial reactions to the prolonged labour required for geographic expedition deputation .
Perhaps the most authoritative determination was that crewmembers who exhibited job did so relatively early in the mission — which means that distance authority could incur out who has the “ right-hand material ” by lead much short computer simulation .
Photo : ESA .
MarsNASAPsychologySpace
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