Here to Stay: Designing for Psychological Well-Being for Long Duration Stays on Moon and Mars

1. Here to Stay: Designing for Psychological Well-Being for Long Duration Stays on Moon and Mars Sheryl L. Bishop, PhD

2. Key Factors • Reliance on technology • Physical/social isolation & confinement • High risk & cost of failure • High physiological, psychological, psychosocial & cognitive demands • Need for human-human, human-technology & human-environmental interfaces • Need for team coordination, cooperation & communication

3. Key Questions • What are the effects? • Do they impair functioning? • Are they self-limiting or progressive? • Are they reversible and when? • What are the countermeasures?

4. Research Areas • Individual Characteristics • Personality • Hardiness • Stress/Coping • Leadership Style • Interpersonal Orientation • Performance • Group Characteristics • Group Dynamics (relationships, conflict, cooperation, compatibility) • Group Composition (Gender, Skills, Nationality) • Group Performance • Group Identity • Group Fission and Fusion Factors

5. Key Concepts • Impact of isolation and confinement underestimated • Group/social interaction and well being in isolated, confined environments have commonalities. Allows extrapolation from analogs (polar bases, submarines, closed chambers) to spaceflight US Reported Problems Mir Space Subs Polar Sims Interper. conflict: x x x x x Somatic Complts: x x x x x Sleep Disturbance: x x xx Boredom, restless: xxx x x Decrements in perf:x xx x x Decline in group compatibility:x x x x x Substance abuse: --?x-

6. Summary Across Expeditions

7. Behavioral Health & Design • Since 1980’s, 14 behavioral issues with design implications have been repeatedly identified as critical issues related to space • Sleep • Personal Hygiene • Clothing • Exercise • Leisure activities • Medical support • Food • Group interaction • Habitat aesthetics • Outside communication • Privacy and personal space • Waste disposal and management • Onboard training, simulation and task preparation • Behavioral issues related to microgravity environments

8. Habitat esthetics and well being • Structural layout and habitat design can address behavioral issues • Maximize habitable volume with configurations that are perceived as more spacious. • Utilize multiple compartments for variety and segregated use. • Use color & lighting to enhance desirable moods, reduce feelings of crowding & physiological normality (e.g., entrain sleep cycles) • Use methodologies to counter feelings of confinement and monotony, provide visual depth. • Multiple uses of plant production spaces: food production, leisure activities, stress reduction, crafts, gardening, small group interaction, exposure to full spectrum lighting, natural fractals.

9. Group Interaction • Group Fusion: social bonding, group identification, social support • Group Fission: tension, conflict, discord, social isolation, scapegoating, miscommunication.

10. Privacy and Personal Space • Separation of private functions from public is critical • Need flexible, definable & redefinable interior environments • meet needs for solitude, privacy • limit social interaction & individual control over amount of contact with others • provides for group as well as individual activity • moderates feelings of crowding, confinement • allows for individual personalization (e.g., decoration) and individual differences

11. Sleep • Closed loop environments are inherently noisy due to dependency on life support and result in significant impacts to sleep. • Countermeasures: • Use of phase shifting to reset synchronicity or • Prevention via entrainment of sleep with artificial light/ dark cues, scheduled meals, exercise and other activities, pharmaceutical assists.

12. Hygiene • Adherence to hygiene standards considered important for health and self-esteem as well as enhanced morale and standards of personal decorum and respect for others. • Previous habitats characterized by facilities that were laborious to use, lacked privacy, cumbersome and cramped. No. of Impact Mission Phase incidents Low Mod. High Preflight Training 9 6 3 0 Inflight Operations 26 9 12 5 • Payload/Experiments 4 1 3 0 • Housekeeping 5 1 3 1 • Personal Hygiene 5 1 3 1 Postflight Activities 7 3 4 0 Totals 42 18 19 5 Santy PA, Holland AW, Looper L and Marcondes-North R. 1993

13. Clothing • Variety and stimulation enhanced by ‘personal décor’. • Recommendations: minimum of weekly changes of outer garments, daily changes of undergarments, clothing for exercise • Variety of colors and adjustable. • Laundry facilities improves opportunity for variability and reinforces hygiene.

14. Exercise • Exercise primary countermeasure for bone decalcification and muscle atrophy. • Amt of exercise required in lunar gravity is under investigation. • Need exercise systems & equipment that are intrinsically motivating & inherently fun. • Equipment located close to hygiene facilities & related work (e.g., studies) but away from sleep facilities & labs concerned with biological or vibration contamination.

15. Food • Food and eating are central events and major sources of stimulation and variety • Variety and quality of food important • Meals promote orientation to group welfare, provide opportunities for face-to-face social exchange & associates satiation of physiological needs with group interaction. • Need individual selection, snacking, sharing of food preparation tasks. • Opportunities to contribute to food resources through individual gardening activities provide sources of intrinsic and extrinsic rewards and group recognition.

16. Leisure • Leisure activities should not include overtly interpersonally competitive activities. • Beating personal bests, activities that offer opportunities for growth or testing and improving mission related skills preferred. • Use of immersive virtual reality systems may provide stimulating games or pleasurable activities. • Listening to music or viewing movies – both privately and as a group. • Preparing media, presentations will be strong work-leisure activity. • Events and holidays should be scheduled as well as spontaneous. • Groups will develop own variety of ‘sports’, games and holidays. • Provisions for crafting and gardening important.

17. Communication • Private send & receive, full fidelity audio/video/3D immersion via virtual reality/telepresence technology • Minimally, personal encryption codes to ensure confidentiality, open channels to Earthside, maximized use of email, store and forward/retrieve audio/video with family/ friends/ colleagues. • Protocols for communication of negative news should be in place, understood and agreed upon by crews. • Maintenance of remote command and control relationship with MC is critical & requires attention/ training on both sides.

18. Work, Training, Simulation & Preparation • EVAs will be major source of stimulation • All members should have EVA roles and participate in scientific discovery. • Personal growth opportunities will be critical for learning new skills relevant to the mission & personal interests. • Facilities on-site should provide for training, access of databases, applications accessible from labs, workspaces and private quarters. • Schedules should be oriented on achieving goals; leave timing and micromanagement to crew. • Protection of non-work and leisure time must be in place and enforced. • Use of production spaces and maintenance tasks must be shared equitably.

19. Monitoring and support • Distance key- Mars requires greater self-support and monitoring capabilities than Moon • Moon requires more than previous stations • Monitoring & support is both passive and active • Need real-time feedback capability for crew self monitoring to enable first line crew control and response for adaptation & implementation of countermeasures (e.g., stress).

20. Project Boreas Mars Polar Base: 5 modules (+smaller consumables cache module) arranged around a 6th central growth module provides maximum accessibility and multiple choices for traffic flow, reducing potential conflicts over intrusions and accessibility restrictions.

21. Project Boreas • Plant & greenery in Growth Module provides: • ecological fractal properties, • terrestrially familiar and restful surroundings, • stress reduction, • full spectrum Earth normal lighting (required for plants), • water features (dual use of hydroponics system), • workbench for creative construction and crafting activities, • spaces between plantings for semi-private gatherings. Recreation / private Recreation / communal Work Communal work / recreation

22. Project Boreas –Sleep Module • Each module core decorated in different environmental theme (e.g., forest, cityscape, prairie, mountains, seashore). • Fostered perceptions of changing environment going from one module to another. • Use of immersive & virtual reality systems in a Biotrope system: digital reality themed media (e.g., sounds of ocean waves) linked to real environments on Earth & updated periodically or in continuous real-time transmission provided greater variety and stimulus.

23. Project Boreas • Windows in both side walls and ceilings in most chambers at different heights provides visual variety. Exterior lighting outside hab provides visual detail and wayfinding elements. • Each module core decorated in different environmental theme. • http://www.bis-spaceflight.com/sitesia.aspx/page/170/id/980/l/en

24. Conclusions • Habitat design can significantly contribute to psychosocial countermeasures • Attention to mission scheduling and protocols to minimize overwork, command & control conflicts, displacement, communication breakdowns. • Enabling technology should minimize burdensome tasks, maximize immersive capabilities and group & individual performance.

25. Acknowledgements Project Boreas Mark Greene ANY. Limited. Design studios. University of the Arts, London, England

26. Questions? Mona Lisa Project, MDRS, May 2005