This book captures the official reports from the European Space Agency (ESA) study, Technologies and Techniques for Psychological Support of astronauts during exploration missions to the Moon and Mars. The study was commissioned by the ESA in 2005 even before the UK Space Agency was formed in 2010. The need for the European Space Agency study of technologies and techniques for psychological support during long-duration exploration missions comes from a human desire for space exploration, which can be realised in the near future. This undertaking is honourable and exciting but is challenging even for the most mentally prepared and trained astronauts and cosmonauts. The crew will travel to where no human has been before, to farther parts of the solar system, and the crew will need to be dependent on each other and aware that they will be without any hope of rescue in case of an unforeseen mentally challenging or life-threatening event. Hence, the challenge extends to scientists and industry to devise techniques and technologies that can support and help the crew on exploration missions. Long-duration exploration missions to the Moon or Mars will pose new critical psychological issues to space crews, compared to Low Earth Orbit flights. Most psychological support measures in use today are employed in-flight. Examples are regular private conferences with psychologists, regular conferences with family, resupplies, uplink of news, visiting crews etc. However due to communication delays and mission characteristics these measures will be possible only in a limited way. Human space exploration is a test of human abilities, specifically, extending our knowledge and understanding of human capabilities and limitations. Therefore much more emphasis will have to be placed on support measures that reduce the risk of mission critical psychological problems. Space mission is also a test of technology and how this can provide efficient support throughout the duration of a long mission. The book consists of three parts: - The first part describes psychological challenges, constraints, existing solutions and their applicability for Mars and Moon missions. - The focus of the second part is a formulation of a global baseline concept for future psychological support. - The third part of the book consolidates information in a global baseline concept for psychological support during exploratory missions with the recommendations and development plan. www.iyawhiteley.com www.biotriz.com

The first edition of this book was voted Winner of the 2004 International Academy of Astronautics Life Sciences Award. The second edition deals with psychological, psychiatric, and psychosocial issues that affect people who live and work in space. Unlike other books that focus on anecdotal reports and ground-based simulation studies, this book emphasizes the findings from psychological research conducted during actual space missions. Both authors have been active in such research.

The time is not far distant when space expeditions will have dozens of members. The American Apollo-11 spacecraft has already landed on the Moon. People will set foot on Mars, and, possibly, other planets. How will they stand up to the difficult conditions there? What sort of problems will they encounter? Will they be able to cope with them?Research work done by space psychologists in recent years has shown that the unusual conditions in store for people on a space voyage may have a decisive effect on its outcome. For this reason an astronaut's psychological training is no less important than his ability to control his spacecraft.It is this aspect of astronaut training that is dealt with by the authors of this book: the world's first astronaut, Yuri Gagarin, Hero of the Soviet Union, and the space psychologist Vladimir Lebedev.But this is not a book about psychology alone. It also speaks of Soviet space hardware, describes actual space flights, and surveys investigations carried out in aviation and space medicine.

In Psychology and Human Performance in Space Programs: Research at the Frontier, leading space researchers from multiple fields of expertise summarize the recent growth of knowledge, the resulting tools and techniques, and the research still needed to protect humans in space. Making use of cutting-edge research and development related to composing, training, and supporting astronaut crews who will live and work together for future missions to Mars, this book examines the current practices of leaders in the field both at NASA and in academia. Presenting astronaut data alongside data from analogous extreme environments such as mission simulation habitats, this volume helpfully contrasts and compares to examine the lessons that can be learned from other approaches. Using the context of current International Space Station missions, the book discusses the influence of human factors and physiological health on individual and team job performance and social cohesion. With an overview of the physical and psychological hazards of space, and the challenges posed by conducting space-related applied psychology research, this volume uses the context of a long-duration Mars mission as a lens through which to discuss adaptation and resilience, technical and team training, technological advances related to working and living in space, and human interaction with onboard systems. Additionally, the book includes an essay from retired astronaut Clay Anderson on his experiences in space and thoughts on future missions to the moon and Mars. This first of two volumes will be of interest to professionals in the field of human factors and psychology at work, as well as academics examining human performance in extreme environments and aerospace.

Astronauts live and work in highly unusual and challenging environments where they must withstand multiple stressors. Their abilities to maintain positive psychological outlooks and good interpersonal relations are crucial for personal well-being and mission success. From the inception of the space program, psychologists, psychiatrists, human factors experts, and other professionals have warned that the psychological stressors of space should be treated as a risk factor and that the risk would increase as missions involved larger, more diversified crews undertaking increasingly long flights. Thus, they called for research leading to the development and application of effective countermeasures. Although psychology played a significant role at the inception of the space program, for many years thereafter certain areas of psychology all but disappeared from NASA. Interest in psychosocial adaptation was rekindled in the mid-1990s when astronauts joined cosmonauts on the Russian space station Mir. NASA's recognition of the field of behavioral health and its links to performance opened the door to many kinds of research that were formerly overlooked. Focusing on the underutilized areas of personality and social psychology, the chapters that follow discuss psychology's struggle for acceptance, the history of astronaut selection and psychological support, the use of analog environments and simulators for research and training, space tourism, the psychological rewards of viewing Earth from space, crew composition and group dynamics, and cross-cultural aspects of international missions. This book concludes with a summary, integration, and evaluation of the role of psychology in space exploration.

A revolution is underway. For the first time in human history, we are at the cusp of experiencing contact with nonhuman life-forms of all kinds due to technological innovations and research into the experiences of people at the forefront of this development. In Encounters, author D.W. Pasulka takes readers to the forefront of this revolution, sharing the work of experts across a spectrum of fields who are working to connect humanity with unknown life-forms. Most of us have visions of nonhuman encounters that are shaped far more by Hollywood than they are informed by the current research. Encounters rewrites our visions of nonhuman species by featuring the work and stories of contemporary innovators who are rethinking our most basic assumptions about life and its manifestations beyond our experience. The author of American Cosmic, D.W. Pasulka is a professor of religion at UNC, Wilmington; her work as a scholar has given her the tools to systematically examine data that exceeds rational categories—exactly the skillset needed to parse the world of UFOs, angels, AI, dreams, and other dimensions, which exist at the edges of human understanding. Encounters is a riveting exploration of the leading science of nonhuman life and a bold glimpse of the future of humanity in a universe where we are far from alone.

Through essays on topics including survival in extreme environments and the multicultural dimensions of exploration, readers will gain an understanding of the psychological challenges that have faced the space program since its earliest days. An engaging read for those interested in space, history, and psychology alike, this is a highly relevant read as we stand poised on the edge of a new era of spaceflight. Each essay also explicitly addresses the history of the psychology of space exploration.