Crew Personalities on the Mission to Mars Essay -- Psychology Space Sc

Crew Personalities on the Mission to Mars The importance of psychology in space flight has been well documented and addressed by NASA and other organizations conducting space exploration. A manned mission to Mars has no precedent. The Apollo missions to the moon are the most similar attempts at space exploration, but these were significantly shorter in duration, did not have the difficulties in communicating with earth that the huge distance between Earth and Mars poses, and the experiments performed were not nearly as complex as those that would be done on Mars (ie. tests for life, carbonates, and underground ice). These new variables leave us with unknown psychological and physiological threats that no one can truly predict â€Å"expertly†, and as a result leadership and how well the crew works together will be more important than ever. In the novel Red Mars, characters each have different personalities, which end up strongly influencing their behavior and attitude on the flight to Mars, as well as once they se t up their community on the surface of Mars. While no character possesses an ideal personality for the mission, each exhibits personality traits that are beneficial to the mission, and others that become obstacles to success. The identification of positive and negative personality characteristics in these hypothetical characters allows the development of ideal standards for the personalities of each crew member based on their function. Michel clearly begins to succumb to some of the basic psychological difficulties associated with life in an isolated environment. The conditions on Mars are described well in Red Mars_The bleak plain surrounding the base was a vision out of some post-holocaust desolation, a night mare... ...ed likelihood of success is worth the additional funds that might be needed to do so. Works Cited Gleitman, Henry et al. Psychology. 5th edition. W.W. Norton & Company Inc. New York. 1999 Holland, Al. Psychology of Spaceflight. In: Human Spaceflight. Mission Analysis and Design. Larson and Pranke Eds, McGraw hill, New York. ISBN 0-07-236811-X. Chapter 7 Mabry, Edward A. et al. The Dynamics of Small Group Communication. Prentice Hall Inc. Englewood Cliffs, NJ. 1980 Morris, Larry Wayne. Extraversion and Introversion: An Interactional Perspective. Hemisphere Publishing Co. Washington, D.C. 1979 Payne, John W., et al. The Adaptive Decision Maker. Cambridge University Press. New York. 1993 Rasmussen, John E. Ed. Man in Isolation and Confinement. Aldine Publishing Company. Chicago. 1973 Robinson, Kim Stanley. Red Mars. Bantam Books. New York. 1993 Crew Personalities on the Mission to Mars Essay -- Psychology Space Sc Crew Personalities on the Mission to Mars The importance of psychology in space flight has been well documented and addressed by NASA and other organizations conducting space exploration. A manned mission to Mars has no precedent. The Apollo missions to the moon are the most similar attempts at space exploration, but these were significantly shorter in duration, did not have the difficulties in communicating with earth that the huge distance between Earth and Mars poses, and the experiments performed were not nearly as complex as those that would be done on Mars (ie. tests for life, carbonates, and underground ice). These new variables leave us with unknown psychological and physiological threats that no one can truly predict â€Å"expertly†, and as a result leadership and how well the crew works together will be more important than ever. In the novel Red Mars, characters each have different personalities, which end up strongly influencing their behavior and attitude on the flight to Mars, as well as once they se t up their community on the surface of Mars. While no character possesses an ideal personality for the mission, each exhibits personality traits that are beneficial to the mission, and others that become obstacles to success. The identification of positive and negative personality characteristics in these hypothetical characters allows the development of ideal standards for the personalities of each crew member based on their function. Michel clearly begins to succumb to some of the basic psychological difficulties associated with life in an isolated environment. The conditions on Mars are described well in Red Mars_The bleak plain surrounding the base was a vision out of some post-holocaust desolation, a night mare... ...ed likelihood of success is worth the additional funds that might be needed to do so. Works Cited Gleitman, Henry et al. Psychology. 5th edition. W.W. Norton & Company Inc. New York. 1999 Holland, Al. Psychology of Spaceflight. In: Human Spaceflight. Mission Analysis and Design. Larson and Pranke Eds, McGraw hill, New York. ISBN 0-07-236811-X. Chapter 7 Mabry, Edward A. et al. The Dynamics of Small Group Communication. Prentice Hall Inc. Englewood Cliffs, NJ. 1980 Morris, Larry Wayne. Extraversion and Introversion: An Interactional Perspective. Hemisphere Publishing Co. Washington, D.C. 1979 Payne, John W., et al. The Adaptive Decision Maker. Cambridge University Press. New York. 1993 Rasmussen, John E. Ed. Man in Isolation and Confinement. Aldine Publishing Company. Chicago. 1973 Robinson, Kim Stanley. Red Mars. Bantam Books. New York. 1993