Keeping Astronauts Sane

Being an astronauts entails a long term commitment and involves stress which psychology can be used to manage.

Psychology has had a huge impact on our understanding of the space race of the past, today’s current missions, and future journeys beyond the orbit of earth. The first missions into space were short with small crews all of whom usually came from the same country.

Over the years, missions have become lengthier and the space race resulting in cooperation among nations has led to more diverse crews. This means that there has been a need to discover and develop positive, constructive and adaptive ways to cope with the stress of working in space and to communicate in spite of cultural differences.

It is now widely recognized that adequate coping mechanisms need to be taught to astronauts before their launch date so they become second nature. Learning how to properly handle interpersonal problems both between and within countries is also critical for future missions. This understanding has come out of experiences…