Safe Passage Astronaut Care for Exploration Missions (2001) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 137-172
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From page 137... ...
The increasing durations of space missions and human habitation in space environments over the past four decades have presented a range of biomedical and behavioral challenges. These challenges have been met with remarkable success, often under adverse circumstances.
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From page 138... ...
All of these restrictions occur under conditions that make no provision for escape, at least during missions beyond Earth orbit. Current Practice arc!
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From page 139... ...
The available, evidence-based data from space missions are thus clearly insufficient for the committee to make an objective evaluation or projection of the behavioral health issues likely to be involved in long-duration space missions beyond Earth orbit. However, the available database from analog settings such as undersea and polar environments (Box 5-1)
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From page 142... ...
Requirements for Additional Knowledge There is an overarching need to enhance the evidence base on the organization of general living conditions and performance requirements for small groups of humans in isolated and confined microsocieties. The objectives of this knowledge-seeking endeavor would be to specify the conditions under which effective work performance of the group can be generated and maintained within the context of productive and harmonious living arrangements that satisfy both individual and group needs for life support (clean air and water, an adequate food supply, waste management and recycling, lighting, adequate clean clothing, and communications)
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From page 143... ...
Considering the duration of missions beyond Earth orbit, a bioregenerative life-support system (e.g., crop growth) would be more cost-effective than the physical-chemical regenerative systems (e.g., freeze-dried storage)
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From page 144... ...
The results of these studies suggest that during long-term missions beyond Earth orbit, the use of stronger synchronizers such as brighter lights will be necessary to entrain the longer-than-24-hour intrinsic circadian period of all humans to the 24.0-hour day and to other day lengths such as the 24.65-hour solar day of Mars. Even with appropriate alignment of the circadian period, however, experience from previous space missions suggests the more likely emergence of restricted sleep patterns in the average range of 4 to 6 hours per day.
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From page 145... ...
has been generated over the past half century, the available knowledge base is deficient with respect to long-duration missions beyond Earth orbit in several ways. For example, findings from group studies conducted in one setting are often not applicable to groups functioning under other environmental conditions.
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From page 146... ...
Against this background of generally effective group performance in the course of missions of up to a year or more in duration, the issues to be addressed now are how to promote performance effectiveness, group solidarity, and personal well-being in the course of long-duration space missions beyond Earth orbit. The enhancement of this essential knowledge base must begin by identifying those features of small social systems that foster the effectiveness of groups functioning semiautonomously over extended periods of time (Hackman, 1990, 19981.
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From page 147... ...
As subsequent sections of this chapter will confirm, the experience and knowledge base in NASA as well as in other public agencies related to personnel screening, selection, placement, and training is extensive. In the area of group composition and group training, however, there is a serious lack of evidence-based information on the requirements of long-duration space missions.
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From page 148... ...
It is nonetheless clear that the promotion of performance effectiveness as well as social and ecological stability for small groups involved in long-duration space missions beyond Earth orbit will require evidence-based technological developments through an approach at the most fundamental scientific level. The committee prefers application of the former "we can predict" approach because it is proactive, more easily ame
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From page 149... ...
Experiences over the past several decades in space and analog settings indicate the importance of a behavioral health role in supporting both participants and ground control personnel during and upon the return from extended space missions. Monitoring of both individual and group interac
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From page 150... ...
As the time-distance dimension separating astronauts from their ground base increases, enhancement of behavioral health support systems will be required. Under such conditions, there will be a need for the development and the refinement not only of individual and group performance monitoring and assessment technologies but also of evidence-based behavioral interventions and effective countermeasures.
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From page 151... ...
From a behavioral health perspective, the communications functions of the inflight support systems are of the utmost importance. Aside from routine operational interactions, frequent communications with medical support personnel are available, along with less frequent opportunities for interactions with sources of emotional support (e.g., family, behavioral health personnel, flight surgeons, and others)
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From page 152... ...
Friction develops because, originally, the senders were and have been exclusively responsible for the consequences of the activity, pay explicit fees, and demand absolute control over the performances of the sent. As groups are involved in longer stays in space and particularly beyond Earth orbit (or are transported to established settlements)
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From page 153... ...
There is extensive military experience with this problem that may provide a useful guide to the consequences of various policies as they are being considered. The interactive monitoring of long-duration space missions will depend on communication modalities and verbal interactions.
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From page 154... ...
A range of in-flight performance evaluation issues have yet to be resolved if adequate assessments of the effects of long-term space missions on human performance and behavioral health are to be provided. In bridging this gap, early developments in the analysis of verbal interactions, both vocal and nonvocal, have shown promise of providing effective approaches.
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From page 155... ...
. c urat~on space missions.
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From page 156... ...
Even though monitoring technologies have focused on individual performance and behavioral health, there is also a need for methods and procedures that can be used to evaluate group interaction patterns under spaceflight conditions. Standardized systems for the monitoring and evaluation of the interactions between the members of small groups are available and could be adapted for use with space-dwelling groups through the use of audio-video downlink capabilities.
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From page 157... ...
The one project on human performance is devoted almost exclusively to the sleep studies cited in the Astronaut Performance and General Living Conditions section of this chapter. Some of the most important behavioral health and performance countermeasures are incorporated into NASA's screening, selection, and training procedures.
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From page 158... ...
The availability of such a longitudinal set of data could also support research to improve intra- and interpersonal support and countermeasure interventions during space missions. Postmission debriefings and longitudinal behavioral health monitoring also provide the opportunity to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of premission training and intramission behavioral interventions, as well as to collect data on behavioral, social, and cultural issues that may not have been obvious during the premission and intramission phases.
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From page 159... ...
Regardless of its shortcomings, the process has made important contributions to the successful accomplishment of mission objectives, insofar as participants on space missions have remained free of serious behavioral disorders, at least for relatively short-term space missions of up to a year or more. Under the present circumstances, however, there is no way of determining whether the procedures currently in place will be adequate or even useful for the screening and selection of candidates for long-duration space missions beyond Earth orbit The existing knowledge base is enhanced to some extent by simulation studies that have been undertaken in polar regions, which serve as analog environments for long-duration space missions.
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From page 160... ...
The focus of NASA's training objectives to date has been the mastery of skills required to operate advanced spacecraft technology in the course of relatively brief, highly choreographed missions within Earth orbit. Generally, these space mission assignments do not exceed a few weeks, although in selected instances several months may be involved.
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From page 161... ...
An individual and group training program is under development, however, with candidates for long-duration missions beyond Earth orbit specially selected as participants. The extent to which this early initiative will take advantage of the availability of significant behavioral health and performance inputs remains unclear.
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From page 162... ...
Four brief examples of how NASA might use these advances for screening, selection, and training are described in Box 5-4. It is also conceivable that the future of long-duration travel beyond Earth orbit will be significantly affected by the rapidly advancing field of molecular medicine (see Chapter 4)
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From page 163... ...
. raining Astronauts on long-duration space missions will confront a range of intra- and interpersonal challenges, the nature of which cannot be accurately determined at present.
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From page 164... ...
Training for long-duration space missions must involve an integrated approach that includes ground-based monitoring and support groups specifically selected to participate in such operations. NASA behavioral health personnel should be directly involved in crew selection and in training crewmembers and ground control personnel in crisis intervention and problems with interpersonal functioning.
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From page 165... ...
STRATEGIC RESEARCH CONSIDERATIONS The conceptual and methodological challenges associated with designing, establishing, and maintaining functional systems that promote performance effectiveness and social and ecological stability for small groups involved in long-term space missions beyond Earth orbit will need to be approached at the most fundamental scientific level. Evidence-based technological developments can be facilitated by research methodologies that incorporate studies in analog settings and simulations of the environmental
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From page 166... ...
Distributed communication interactions within and between spacedwelling and Earth-bound groups will be an inherent feature of long-duration space missions beyond Earth orbit. The availability of automated group interaction technologies not only opens the door to the enhanced precision of performance measurements but also provides a research approach to determining the correct mix of group interaction-communication modalities that maximize efficiency without overcomplicating the design of the system.
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From page 167... ...
In this way, major applied research questions of direct relevance to enhancing the knowledge base required for spaceflight beyond Earth orbit can be pursued without sacrificing methodological rigor by using the participants r of primary Interest. A variety of behavioral health and performance research and development opportunities dealing with performance and general living conditions, support and recovery systems, and screening, selection, and training have been described throughout this chapter.
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From page 170... ...
Recommendation NASA should give priority to increasing the knowledge base of the effects of living conditions and behavioral interactions on the health and performance of individuals and groups involved in long-duration missions beyond Earth orbit. Attention should focus on · understanding group interactions in extreme, confined, and isolated micro environments ; · understanding the roles of sex, ethnicity, culture, and other human factors on performance; · understanding potentially disruptive behaviors; · developing means of behavior monitoring and interventions; · developing evidence-based criteria for reliable means of crew selection and training and for the management of harmonious and productive crew interactions; and · training of both space-dwelling and ground-based support groups specifically selected for involvement in operations beyond Earth orbit.
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From page 172... ...
The Mir with Earth below, as photographed from the space shuttle Discovery during space shuttle mission STS-91 on June 12, 1998, during the space shuttle-Mir final fly around before bringing the last group of space shuttle-Mir astronauts back to Earth. NASA image.
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