Crew Psychology

In any space mission, an infinite amount of considerable factors arise. Some of these aspects are seemingly more important or more interesting than others. One consideration that does not seem to hold as much weight in the general perspective of space exploration is the human psychological facets that coincide with long duration missions. The fact of the matter is, that the issues of the crew’s psychological health is as important, maybe more than their physical health. This is from the fact that psychological health can affect the person’s physical health. The design and engineering of the crew holds just as much weight as the design and engineering of the craft itself. It is quite apparent that the success of the mission depends heavily on the success of the crew itself.

Issues that arose were of a diverse and intricate nature. The following is a list of what has been found to be at the top of the agenda to explore:

• interpersonal dynamics
• preference for outdoors
• emotional sensitivity
• gender
• ethnicity
• religion
• married or single people
• men to women ratio

Interpersonal dynamics deals with the inner-workings of the crew. It brings up the question of whether or not the crew interacts well together. If the crew is to be successful, they will have to become more than just colleagues; they will have to become friends.

The “preference for outdoors” topic seems to be irrelevant at first, but it is very crucial. The mission is going to involve a six-month transit to and from Mars. During this time, the crew is going to be encased within this small craft without any interaction with the outside world. So, mere logic dictates that a person who has a fondness for interaction with nature and anything of the outdoor recreational nature, would not be as happy as one who enjoys being enclosed by walls. It is reasonable that happiness is something that holds a vital key to the success of the mission.

Emotional sensitivity is an issue that ranks alongside interpersonal dynamics. Emotional sensitivity can most aptly be defined by the phrase used to designate it as a condition. It is still uncertain how sensitive, emotionally, one should be for long duration space flight. Should the people on the voyage be callous to a point where issues like depression, insomnia, irritability, or anxiety will not contribute to that person's ill-performance? Well, this is not ideal; there needs to be some type of emotional link between the crewmembers, as sighted by numerous studies.

Religious and ethnicity factors come into play only so far as tolerance is concerned. If the crewmembers cannot handle diversity, it would limit the interaction and communication between them. This as stated would be detrimental to the realization of the mission’s aspirations, since they would be incapable of functioning as a unit.

The issue of the ratio of men to women on the crew, and on whether they should be married or not is a very controversial issue that cannot be readily resolved. Different arguments have been brought up and considered and it cannot be decided which would be more beneficial. Other consequences of such a decision have also been brought up, and the morality and legality of the issue creates a serious problem. It would require a more detailed analysis to address the situation completely.