Over the next few decades, NASA aims to land humans on the Moon as part of the Artemis program, establish a lunar colony, and use the lessons learned to send humans to Mars.
While researchers know that space travel can stress space crew members both physically and mentally and test their ability to work together in close quarters, future missions to Mars will compound these challenges. Mars is very far away (millions of kilometers from Earth) and a mission to the red planet would take two to two and a half years between the travel time and the Mars surface probe itself.
As a psychiatrist who studies interactions between space crew members in orbit, I am interested in the stressors that will arise during a Mars mission and how they might be mitigated for the benefit of future space travelers.
delayed communication
Given the great distance to Mars, two-way communication between crew members and Earth would take approximately 25 minutes round trip. This delayed contact with home will not only demoralize the crew members. This will likely mean that space crews will not be able to receive real-time assistance from Mission Control during onboard emergencies.
Because these communications move at the speed of light and cannot go any faster, experts are finding ways to increase communication efficiency under time-delayed conditions. These solutions may include messaging, summarizing topics periodically, and encouraging participants to ask questions at the end of each message (which the responder can answer in the next message).
autonomous conditions
Space crew members will not be able to communicate with Mission Control in real time to plan their schedules and activities, so they will need to conduct their work more autonomously than astronauts operating in orbit on the International Space Station.
Although studies conducted during space simulations on Earth suggest that crew members can achieve mission objectives under highly autonomous conditions, researchers need to learn more about how these conditions affect the interactions between crew members and their relationships with Mission Control.
For example, Mission Control personnel often advise crew members in real time on how to deal with problems or emergencies. This won’t be an option during a Mars mission.
To study this challenge on Earth, scientists can run a series of simulations in which crew members have varying degrees of contact with Mission Control. They were then able to see what happened to the interactions between crew members and their ability to get along and perform their duties efficiently.
Crew member tension
Being confined to a small group of people for long periods of time can lead to tension and interpersonal strife.
In my research team’s studies of crews in orbit, we found that when experiencing interpersonal stress in space, crew members may defuse that tension by blaming Mission Control for scheduling problems or not offering adequate support. This can lead to misunderstandings and hurt feelings among the crew.
One way to deal with interpersonal tension on the ship would be to schedule time each week for crew members to discuss interpersonal conflicts during scheduled “bull sessions.” We found that supportive commanders can increase crew cohesion. A supportive commander or someone trained in anger management can facilitate these sessions to help crew members understand their interpersonal conflicts before their emotions flare up and harm the mission.
Time spent away from home
Spending long periods away from home can negatively impact the morale of crew members in space. Astronauts miss their families and report concern about the well-being of their family members on Earth, especially when someone is sick or in crisis.
Mission duration can also affect astronauts. A Mars mission will have three phases: outbound journey, stay on the Martian surface, and return home. Each of these stages can affect crew members differently. For example, the excitement of being on Mars can boost morale, while the boredom of returning can lower morale.
Disappearing Earth phenomenon
For astronauts in orbit, seeing Earth from space is a reminder that home, family and friends are not far away. But for crew members traveling to Mars, watching Earth shrink to an insignificant point in the sky can result in a deep sense of isolation and homesickness.
Having telescopes onboard that would allow crew members to view the Earth as a beautiful ball in space, or giving them access to virtual reality images of trees, lakes, and family members, could help mitigate the effects of Earth disappearing. But these countermeasures can easily lead to deeper depression as crew members wonder what they’re missing.
Planning for Mars mission
Researchers examined some of these issues during the Mars500 program, a collaboration between Russia and other space agencies. During Mars500, six men were isolated for 520 days in a space simulator in Moscow. They went through periods of delayed communication and autonomy and simulated landing on Mars.
Scientists learned a lot from this simulation. However, it is not easy to simulate many features of a real Mars mission, such as microgravity and some of the dangers of space (meteor impacts, Earth disappearance phenomena).
Missions planned as part of the Artemis program will allow researchers to learn more about the pressures astronauts will face during their journey to Mars.
For example, NASA is planning a space station called Gateway that would orbit the Moon and serve as a relay station for the Moon landing and Mars mission. Researchers can simulate the outbound and return phases of a Mars mission by sending astronauts to Gateway for six-month periods; here they could introduce Mars-like delayed communication, autonomy, and views of a receding Earth.
Researchers could simulate a Mars exploration on the Moon by having astronauts perform tasks similar to those envisioned for Mars. This way, crew members can be better prepared for the psychological and interpersonal pressures that come with a real Mars mission. These simulations can increase the chances of a successful mission and contribute to the well-being of astronauts as they go into space.
This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent, nonprofit news organization providing facts and authoritative analysis to help you understand our complex world. Written by Nick Kanas University of California, San Francisco
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Nick Kanas received research funding from NASA and the National Space Biomedical Research Institute as a Principal Investigator from 1995 to 2010.