Within the next few decades, NASA plans to land humans on the moon, establish a lunar colony and use the lessons learned to send humans to Mars as part of its Artemis program.
While researchers know that space travel can tax space crew members both physically and mentally and test their ability to work together in close quarters, missions to Mars will compound these challenges.
Mars is far away – millions of kilometers from Earth – and a mission to the red planet will take two to two and a half years, between the travel time and the exploration of the surface of Mars itself.
As a psychiatrist who has studied the interactions of space crew members in orbit, Nick Kanas is interested in the stressors that will occur during a Mars mission and how they can be reduced for the benefit of future space travelers.
Delayed communication
Given the great distance to Mars, two-way communication between crew members and Earth will take approximately 25 minutes. This delayed contact with home will not only damage the morale of the crew members. It will likely mean that space crews won’t get as much real-time assistance from Mission Control during onboard emergencies.
Because this communication travels at the speed of light and cannot go any faster, experts are coming up with ways to improve communication efficiency under time-delayed conditions.
These solutions may include text messaging, periodically summarizing topics, and encouraging participants to ask questions at the end of each message, which the responder can answer during 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 have to perform their work more autonomously than astronauts working in orbit on the International Space Station.
Although studies during space simulations on Earth have suggested that crew members can still achieve mission objectives under highly autonomous conditions, researchers need to learn more about how these conditions affect the interactions between crew members and their relationship with Mission Control.
For example, mission control personnel usually advise crew members in real time on how to handle problems or emergencies. That will not be an option during a Mars mission.
To study this challenge on Earth, scientists could run a series of simulations in which crew members have varying degrees of contact with Mission Control. They could then see what happens to the interactions between crew members and their ability to interact with each other and perform their tasks productively.
Crew member tension
Being cooped up with a small group of people for an extended period of time can lead to tensions and interpersonal conflicts.
In my research team’s studies of crews in space, we found that when crew members experience interpersonal stress in space, they may diffuse this tension by blaming Mission Control for scheduling problems or not providing sufficient support. This can lead to misunderstandings on the ground among the crew and hurt feelings.
One way to deal with interpersonal tensions on board would be to schedule time each week for crew members to discuss interpersonal conflicts during scheduled “bull sessions.”
We have found that commanders who are supportive can improve crew cohesion. A supportive commander, or someone trained in anger management, could facilitate these sessions to help crew members understand their interpersonal conflicts before their feelings fester and harm the mission.
Time away from home
Spending long periods of time outdoors can have a negative effect on the morale of crew members in space. Astronauts miss their families and report being concerned about the well-being of their relatives on Earth, especially when someone is sick or in crisis.
The duration of the mission can also affect astronauts. A Mars mission will have three phases: the outward journey, the stay on the surface of Mars and the return home.
Each of these phases can affect crew members differently. For example, the excitement of being on Mars can boost morale, while the boredom of returning can lower morale.
The phenomenon of the disappearing earth
For astronauts in orbit, seeing Earth from space is a reminder that their home, family and friends are not too far away. But for crew members traveling to Mars, watching Earth shrink to an insignificant speck in the sky can result in a deep sense of isolation and homesickness.
Having telescopes on board that allow crew members to see Earth as a beautiful ball in space, or give them access to virtual reality images of trees, lakes and family members, could help mitigate the effects of the disappearing Earth.
But these countermeasures can just as easily lead to deeper depression as the crew members think about what they are missing.
Plans for a Mars mission
Researchers studied some of these issues during the Mars500 program, a collaboration between the Russian and other space agencies. During Mars500, six men were isolated in a space simulator in Moscow for 520 days. They underwent periods of delayed communications and autonomy, and they simulated a landing on Mars.
Scientists have learned a lot from that simulation. But many features of a real Mars mission, such as microgravity and some space hazards (meteor impacts, the disappearing Earth phenomenon) are not easy to simulate.
Planned missions under the Artemis program will allow researchers to learn more about the pressures astronauts will face during the journey to Mars.
For example, NASA is planning a space station called Gateway, which will orbit the moon and serve as a relay station for moon landings and a mission to Mars.
Researchers could simulate the round-trip phase of a Mars mission by sending astronauts to Gateway for a period of six months, where they could introduce Mars-like delayed communications, autonomy and views of a retreating Earth.
Researchers could simulate a Mars exploration on the moon by having astronauts perform tasks similar to those expected for Mars. In this way, crew members can better prepare for the psychological and interpersonal pressures associated with a real Mars mission.
These simulations can increase the chances of a successful mission and contribute to the well-being of astronauts while in space.
Nick Kanas, professor emeritus of psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco
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