Crew Factors 



and attempts to make the spacecraft as habitable as feasible, largely in response to 

 the wishes of astronauts and space human factors engineers (10,11,12). 



Among the areas associated with human space flight, the two most amenable to 

 modification are the design of the spacecraft interior for work and leisure and the 

 scheduling of activities. While the former has received increasing attention (10), 

 the latter has been left largely to mission requirements. Neither has been subjected 

 to systematic ground-based studies with full crews involved in realistic simulations 

 of actual missions. The importance of proper scheduling in enhancing crew 

 cooperation and performance must not be underestimated. An important aspect of 

 work scheduling is determining the best mixes of automated and manual control, 

 discussed later in this paper. 



Interpersonal Interactions 



The major issue is identifying the requirements needed to maintain 

 psychological health, sustain relationships, and optimize performance among 

 the crew during long-duration missions. 



A considerable amount of information is available concerning the effects of 

 confinement and isolation on the performance, cohesion, and well-being of small 

 groups. There is difficulty, however, in generalizing the results from laboratory 

 studies of small groups to crews that will be living in spacecraft for extended 

 periods of time. Current studies cannot assess the danger associated with long- 

 duration missions, as compared to the safe conditions of the scientific laboratory. 

 Many important questions remain that are pertinent to interpersonal interactions 

 in confined, isolated, and high risk environments. 



The most significant of these questions involves identifying the ways to sustain 

 cooperative and satisfying interactions among crew members throughout an 

 extended mission. Among other factors affecting group relationships, such as the 

 age, sex, and education of crew members, we do not have sufficient information 

 to predict with confidence the optimal size for a group to travel to Mars or to 

 establish a lunar base (3,4). In addition to group size, role definition is important. 

 Clearly defined roles consistent with the statuses of group members are important 

 in achieving optimal performance. The command and control structure of the 

 space crew will play an important part in the group's role definition (13). It is 

 probable that the conditions of space travel will require creative solutions best 

 developed by group members with diverse backgrounds and capabilities. 



Research examining interaction patterns among different types and structures of 

 groups needs to be conducted. Groups must be studied living in conditions and 

 performing activities that approximate as closely as possible the environment of 

 the spacecraft and workload of a space mission. Actual performance variables, as 

 well as interactive variables, must be examined. Ground-based studies on a large 

 scale over a long period will be needed to obtain baseline, normative data. It is 

 imperative that these efforts begin at once. 



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