The implementation of game in a 20-day head-down tilting bed rest experiment upon mood status and neurotic levels of rest subjects

This study evaluated the effect of the implementation of game on mental health among participants in a bedrest (BR) experiment. Subjects were 12 healthy males aged 20-26, who participated in a 20-day 6-degrees head-down tilting BR experiment. The participants were asked to complete psychometrical questionnaires before, during, and after the experiment. We entrusted the participants to manage their leisure time and they intended a game in which all of them could take part over the experiment period. The general conversation and light-hearted mood among the subjects continued during the experimental period. Longitudinal data analysis showed that levels of neurosis and mood status did not deteriorate during the experiment, while our previous experiments, which were performed under the same protocol as this study except for the implementation of the game showed a distinct deterioration in psychosocial status. We consider that the implementation of game autonomously contributes to the positive effects on the mental health among the participants.     

Study of values and interpersonal perception in cosmonauts on board of international space station

The increased heterogeneity of International Space Station (ISS) crews′ composition (in terms of nationality, profession and gender) together with stressful situations, due to space flight, can have a significant impact on group interaction and cohesion, as well as on communications with Mission Control Center (MCC) and the success of the mission as a whole. Culturally related differences in values, goals, and behavioral norms could influence mutual perception and, thus, cohesive group formation. The purpose of onboard “Interaction-Attitudes” experiment is to study the patterns of small group (space crew) behavior in extended space flight. Onboard studies were performed in the course of ISS Missions 19–30 with participation of twelve Russian crewmembers. Experimental schedule included 3 phases: preflight training and Baseline Data Collection; inflight activities once in two weeks; post-flight measurement. We used Personal Self-Perception and Attitudes (PSPA) software for analyzing subjects′ attitudes toward social environment (crewmembers and MCC). It is based on the semantic differential and the repertory grid technique. To study the content of interpersonal perception we used content-analysis with participation of the experts, independently attributing each construct to the 17 semantic categories, which were described in our previous study. The data obtained demonstrated that the system of values and personal attitudes in the majority of participated cosmonauts remained mostly stable under stress-factors of extended space flight. Content-analysis of the important criteria elaborated by the subjects for evaluation of their social environment, showed that the most valuable personal traits for cosmonauts were those that provided the successful fulfillment of professional activity (motivation, intellectual level, knowledge, and self-discipline) and good social relationships (sociability, friendship, and tolerance), as well. Post-flight study of changes in perceptions, related to Real Self-image, did not reveal significant differences between the images of Russian crew-members and representatives from foreign space agencies. A certain difference in perceptions was found in cosmonauts with more integrated system of evaluations: after space flight they perceived foreign participants as “closer” to their Ideal, while Russian crew-members were perceived mostly as “distant” from Ideal Self of these subjects. Perceptions of people from Earth were also more critical. These differences are likely to be manifestations of interpersonal perception stereotypes. Described patterns of changes in perceptions of cosmonauts, who have performed space flight as a part of ISS multinational crew, allow us to suggest the recommendations for development of ISS crew training, in particular, it seems useful to increase the time of joint training for deepening of intercultural interaction.     

Psychosocial interactions during ISS missions

Based on anecdotal reports from astronauts and cosmonauts, studies of space analog environments on Earth, and our previous research on the Mir Space Station, a number of psychosocial issues have been identified that can lead to problems during long-duration space expeditions. Several of these issues were studied during a series of missions to the International Space Station. Using a mood and group climate questionnaire that was completed weekly by crewmembers in space and personnel in mission control, we found no evidence to support the presence of predicted decrements in well-being during the second half or in any specific quarter of the missions. The results did support the predicted displacement of negative feelings to outside supervisors among both crew and ground subjects. There were several significant differences in mood and group perceptions between Americans and Russians and between crewmembers and mission control personnel. Crewmembers related cohesion to the support role of their leader, and mission control personnel related cohesion to both the task and support roles of their leader. These findings are discussed with reference to future space missions.     

Psychological adaptation and salutogenesis in space: Lessons from a series of studies

Individuals who adapt positively to an inhospitable or extreme environment can derive benefit from their experiences. This positive effect may include an initial improvement in mental health as someone adjusts to the environment (adaptation) as well as more sustained personal growth during the mission (salutogenesis). We review relevant findings from our prior work, including two post-mission surveys of astronauts and cosmonauts, and three studies of crewmembers during missions in a space station simulator, the Mir space station, and the International Space Station (ISS). We also present new analyses showing evidence for adaptation to ISS missions. This finding replicates our previous results from the simulation study, but this effect was not found on the Mir. A better understanding of psychological adaptation and salutogenesis during space flight should help us develop strategies to enhance crewmembers’ in-flight stress tolerance and post-flight adjustment.     

Women''s place in space exploration

A Mars manned space mission would be characterized by long-lasting psycho-social stress for its human participants. Based on the results of our and other authors' experiments with small human groups under simulated space stress conditions, and bearing in mind historical evidence of the changing role of women in human society, the differences of feminine and masculine cognitive patterns should be taken into greater account. Participation of women in astronautics should be reconsidered from the point of view of the roles of women as members of a space ship crew, as members of a space control centre and in relation to the family life of male astronauts on long-term space missions.     

Social and cultural issues during Shuttle/Mir space missions.

A number of interpersonal issues relevant to manned space missions have been identified from the literature. These include crew tension, cohesion, leadership, language and cultural factors, and displacement. Ground-based studies by others and us have clarified some of the parameters of these issues and have indicated ways in which they could be studied during actual space missions. In this paper, we summarize some of our findings related to social and cultural issues from a NASA-funded study conducted during several Shuttle/Mir space missions. We used standardized mood and group climate measures that were completed on a weekly basis by American and Russian crew and mission control subjects who participated in these missions. Our results indicated that American subjects reported more dissatisfaction with their interpersonal environment than their Russian counterparts, especially American astronauts. Mission control personnel were more dysphoric than crewmembers, but both groups were significantly less dysphoric than other work groups on Earth. Countermeasures based on our findings are discussed which can be applied to future multicultural space missions.     

Personal growth following long-duration spaceflight

IntroductionSalutogenesis and posttraumatic growth represent personal growth and improved functioning as a result of experiencing major challenging events. These developments are not simply resilience (a return to a baseline level of well-being), but positive change in such characteristics as self-understanding, relations with others, personal values, and life goals. Space agencies and space psychologists, primarily concerned with deleterious effects and their countermeasures, have not paid much attention to such beneficial long-term aftereffects of spaceflight.PurposeTo document what changes veterans of the Soviet/Russian space program report as a consequence of their experiences.MethodTwenty retired male cosmonauts Mir and/or ISS cosmonauts filled out relevant self-report questionnaires. Results: Although there was little change in the relative rankings of a list of values, the scale showed an overall increase in the rated importance of all personal values, although only the increase in Self-Direction reached statistical significance. Responses to one of two post-space growth questionnaires based on the Post-Traumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) were compared to the means of two comparison groups: 152 first-time mothers, and 926 respondents who had experienced various forms of trauma. The cosmonauts reported higher scores on the dimension of New Possibilities when compared to the new mothers and the traumatized group, and higher scores on Personal Strength and Overall PTG compared to the latter. Respondents who had spent more than a year in space, and those who flew on both Mir and ISS, were the most likely to report positive change in the domain Appreciation of Life. The other post-space career questionnaire reflected major changes in Perceptions of the Earth and of Space, and increases on a number of other dimensions, including New Possibilities and Changes in Daily Life, with positive scores that significantly exceeded the original report.DiscussionIt appears that cosmonauts do experience various aspects of positive personal growth following their space flights. As long-duration missions are (and will remain) the norm, it is important for the space agencies and the voyagers themselves to develop a better understanding and possible enhancement of this phenomenon.     

The Global Exploration Roadmap and its significance for NASA

The Global Exploration Roadmap reflects the collaborative effort of twelve space agencies to define a long-term human space exploration strategy which provides substantial benefits for improving the quality of life on Earth and is implementable and sustainable. Such a strategy is a necessary precondition to the government investments required to enable the challenging and rewarding missions that extend human presence into the solar system. The article introduces the international strategy and elaborates on NASA's leadership role in shaping that strategy. The publication of the roadmap, a reflection of the space landscape and multilateral agency-level dialog over the last four years, allows NASA to demonstrate its commitment to leading a long-term space exploration endeavor that delivers benefits, maintains strategic human spaceflight capabilities and expands human presence in space, with human missions to the surface of Mars as a driving goal. The road mapping process has clearly demonstrated the complementary interests of the participants and the potential benefits that can be gained through cooperation among nations to achieve a common goal. The present US human spaceflight policy is examined and it is shown that the establishment of a sustainable global space exploration strategy is fully consistent with that policy.     

Surgery in space: Where are we at now?

In the coming decades, as we continue our path of space exploration beyond the Earth's orbit, we will be required to provide sound medical and surgical care for the safety of space travellers and spaceflight participants. A few investigations have taken place in the field of surgery in space. In this paper, the authors review the present literature in order to identify possible limitations that currently exist and that could impair our ability to provide surgical care during spaceflight, from the pre-operative to the post-operative period.     

Observations on the evolution of satellite launch volume and cyclicality in the space industry

Satellites have been rightly described as the lifeblood of the entire space industry and the number of satellites ordered or launched per year is an important defining metric of the industry's level of activity, such that trends and variability in this volume have significant strategic impact on the space industry. Over the past 40+ years, hundreds of satellites have been launched every year. Thus an important dataset is available for time series analysis and identification of trends and cycles in the various markets of the space industry. This article reports findings of a study for which we collected data on over 6000 satellites launched since 1960 on a yearly basis. We grouped the satellites into three broad categories – defense and intelligence, science, and commercial satellites – and identified and discussed the main trends and cyclical patterns for each of these. Institutional customers (defense and intelligence, and science) accounted for over two-thirds of all satellites launched within our time period (1960–2008), and, in the 1960s and 1970s, they accounted for 90% and 73.5%, respectively. A fair conclusion from this data is that the space industry was enabled by, and grew because of the institutional customers, not commercial market forces. However, when the launch data is examined more closely, a growing influence of the commercial sector is noticeable. Over the past two decades communication satellites accounted for roughly half of all launches, thus reflecting an important shift in the space industry in which the commercial sector is playing an equal role (on a launch volume basis) to that of the institutional market. Cyclical patterns in the satellite launch volume over the past decade are separately discussed before we sum up with a conclusion.     

International cooperation - how to proceed

As part of a project exploring ways that international cooperation can maximize the benefits of space activities in the new political climate of the 1990s, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) has been organizing expert workshops on the subject. The latest of these, held in December 1994, focused on five areas: global space systems services; human and robotic exploration; space transportation; solar power to Earth; and international peacekeeping. It is only in the last few years that recommendations on the latter topic could realistically have been put forward and, as a prelude to our presentation of the Executive Summary of the report produced by AIAA, two of the 60-plus participants drawn from 15 countries, Robert Fuhrmann and Jürgen Wild, discuss the implications of this new found openness over international security and analyse the background to its genesis.     

U.S. manned space flight: the first twenty years, a biomedical status report.

In the last 20 years, the biomedical problems facing man in space have been brought into sharper focus. Space motion sickness is presently our most serious problem. Its etiology remains obscure, but the "sensory conflict" theory appears most plausible. No valid predictive tests of susceptibility exist and presently we must rely on medication for prevention or mitigation of symptoms. Adaptation/biofeedback techniques may prove useful. Cardiovascular "deconditioning" may be effectively attenuated by use of anti-g suits or plasma expanding techniques. Recent bedrest simulation studies would seem to indicate that concerns about chronically elevated central venous pressure during space flight are unfounded. The loss of red cell mass in space flight appears to be self-limited, independent of mission duration, and not of clinical concern, based on recent Soviet experiences. And finally, clodronate, a new diphosphonate effective in preventing hypercalciuria and negative calcium balance in normal human bedrested subjects, may prove effective in preventing or lessening skeletal mineral loss in space.     

航天项目资源效用提升方法思考

文章根据价值工程的管理思想,以提升我国航天项目价值为最终目标,在航天系统工程技术和项目管理的基础上,从资源配置和使用角度对项目最优价值的实现过程进行了项目资源管理实践的总结,得出通过资源效用提升可以更好地实现项目价值的结论,较为系统地提出了航天项目资源效用提升的有效实施方法。     

Technology foresight in practice: A proposal for Turkish space vision

We are witnessing a fundamental change in the perception of space-related issues. Once a symbol of technological competition between opposing political systems, space activities have become a part of everyday life and an indispensable means for states to achieve economic, scientific, political and social goals. This Report addresses the space activities of Turkey, a latecomer to space challenge but a country rapidly progressing in this field. In this context, major space-related policies and projects are first discussed. The current status of the Turkish space industry is then defined through SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats). The analysis is informed by a May 2012 workshop was held in Turkey at the Defense Sciences Institute, which brought together a range of interested actors to discuss Turkey's space policy. The workshop was followed up six months later with a survey of a larger group of participants. This Report lays out the findings of these two events, articulating the strengths and weaknesses for Turkey's space aspirations, and also a proposal for the country's future space ambitions. Strategies and policies that will be supportive in achieving the proposed space vision are also introduced.     

From Earth's orbit to the outer planets and beyond: Psychological issues in space

Current planning for the first interplanetary expedition to Mars envisions a crew of 6 or 7 people and a mission duration of around 2.5 years. However, this time frame is much less than that expected on expeditions to the outer solar system, where total mission durations of 10 years or more are likely. Although future technological breakthroughs in propulsion systems and space vehicle construction may speed up transit times, for now we must realistically consider the psychological impact of missions lasting for one or more decades.Available information largely deals with on-orbit missions. In research that involved Mir and ISS missions lasting up to 7 months, our group and others have studied the effects of psychological and interpersonal issues on crewmembers and on the crew-ground relationship. We also studied the positive effects of being in space. However, human expeditions to the outer planets and beyond will introduce a number of new psychological and interpersonal stressors that have not been experienced before. There will be unprecedented levels of isolation and monotony, real-time communication with the Earth will not be possible, the crew will have to work autonomously, there will be great dependence on computers and other technical resources located on board, and the Earth will become an insignificant dot in space or will even disappear from view entirely.Strategies for dealing with psychological issues involving missions to the outer solar system and beyond will be considered and discussed, including those related to new technologies being considered for interstellar missions, such as traveling at a significant fraction of the speed of light, putting crewmembers in suspended animation, or creating giant self-contained generation ships of colonists who will not return to Earth.     

Improved space safety for astronauts

The 2003 Columbia accident demonstrated that spaceflight remains a risky and dangerous human endeavor, yet there have been few ‘unofficial’ investigations into astronaut safety. This report summarizes the findings of one such study by George Washington University's Space & Advanced Communications Research Institute—e.g. that simplicity of design may be better than complexity, that cargo missions would be better carried out robotically and that all new space transportation systems should be developed to common international standards—before examining ways that international cooperation can advance the cause of space safety. In establishing future space safety standards input from a wider range of participants (industry, universities and private research institutes, as well as space agencies, etc.) will need to be sought.     

Examining the effects of anti-space weaponization arguments in the media: Some experimental findings from Canada

This study examines how political activists are framing the space weaponization debate in Canada and whether their arguments can influence public attitudes and perceptions about the issue. Eighty university students from two undergraduate courses were recruited as participants in a quasi-experiment. One class (n = 38) was exposed to the documentary Masters of Space, an episode of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's program The Nature of Things, and another class (n = 42) served as the control group. Pre-test and post-test questionnaires were used to measure the effects of viewing anti-weaponization arguments in the media, while also controlling for the influence of prior beliefs and background characteristics of participants. Results suggest that visually depicting the use of satellite technology in society can convince viewers that satellites are important to their way of life, but not necessarily to the defense of North America. Framing missile defense as a ‘space weapon in disguise’ also seemed to raise opposition to Canada's participation in continental missile defense. The findings, meanwhile, indicate that viewers respond strongly to the issue of space debris and that mobilizing support for joint military space projects may best be achieved by emphasizing the usefulness of these projects for locating and tracking such debris. In the end, media exposure seemed to help legitimize anti-weaponization arguments based more on rational self-interests than on idealistic beliefs. These findings can have implications for the way space policies are communicated to the public.     

CASH 2021: commercial access and space habitation

Issues about commercialization of space have been a growing concern in the past decade for the space community. This paper focuses on the work from a team of 51 students attending the Summer Session Program of the International Space University in Bremen, Germany. CASH 2021 (Commercial Access and Space Habitation) documents a plan that identifies commercial opportunities for space utilization that will extend human presence in space, and will chart the way forward for the next 20 years. The group selected four commercial sectors that show the most promise for the future: tourism, entertainment, space system service, assembly and debris removal, and research and development/production. The content of this document presents the results of their research. Historical activities in each of the commercial sectors are reviewed along with the current market situation. To provide a coherent background for future commercialization possibilities a scenario has been developed. This scenario includes a postulated upon ideal future and includes social, political and economic factors that may affect the space industry over the timeline of the study. The study also presents a roadmap, within the limited optimistic scenario developed, for the successful commercialization of space leading to future human presence in space. A broad range of commercially viable opportunities, not only within the current limits of the International Space Station, but also among the many new developments that are expected by 2021 are discussed.     

空间细胞生物学研究的新进展

空间环境对细胞的影响,对于人类进行长时间探索太空,研究揭示生命的秘密有着重要的意义。而先进的空间细胞培养技术及先进的细胞智能传感技术为我们提供了新的研究手段。文章总结了世界各国近期空间及地面的细胞生物学技术突破及成果,归纳了我国进行空间细胞生物学的研究现状,指出了未来空间细胞生物学的研究热点,给出了空间细胞仪器的设计策略。     

Informed consent v. ITAR: Regulatory conflicts that could constrain commercial human space flight

The Human Space Flight Requirements (promulgated by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration) seek to protect the fledgling commercial space flight industry by shifting risk from the operator to the space flight participants. However, in order to do this effectively the regulations require a great deal of information to be given to the participants. The information required might be extensive enough that it could be considered “technical data” under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. If this is the case then commercial spaceflight companies will have to get export licenses for non-U.S. participants on their flights which could cause additional costs as well as other problems.