HUMAN INTERACTIONS DURING SHUTTLE/MIR SPACE MISSIONS

Kanas, N, Salnitskiy, V, Grund, EM, Weiss, DS, Gushin, V, Kozerenko, O, Sled, A, and Marmar, CR. Acta Astronautica, 48: 777-784, 2001.


ABSTRACT

Objective: To improve the interpersonal climate of crewmembers involved with long-duration space missions, it is important to understand the factors affecting their interactions with each other and with members of mission control. This paper will present findings from a recently completed NASA-funded study during the Shuttle/Mir program which evaluated in-group/out-group displacement of negatige emotions; changes in tension, cohesion, and leader support over time; and cultural differences.

Method: Inflight data were collected from 5 astronauts, 8 cosmonauts, and 42 American and 16 Russian mission control personnel who signed informed consent. Subjects completed a weekly questionnaire that assessed their mood and perception of their work group's interpersonal climate using questions from well-known, standardized measures (Profile of Mood States, Group and Work Environments Scales) and a critical incident log.

Results: There was strong evidence for the dispacement of tension and dysphoric emotions from crewmembers to mission control personnel and from mission control personnel to management. There was a perceived decrease in commander support during the 2nd half of the mission, and for American crewmembers a novelty effect was found on several subscales during the first few months on-orbit. There were a number of differences between American and Russian responses which suggested that the former were less happy with their interpersonal environment than the latter. Mission control personnel reported more tension and dysphoria than crewmembers, although both groups scored better than other work groups on Earth. Nearly all reported critical incidents came from ground subjects, with Americans and Russiansd showing important differences in response frequencies.