**1. Introduction**

During the preparation of the first cosmic flights, the main question was their technical feasibility, which was first positively answered by the German rocket scientist Wernher von Braun. His technical feasibility study [1] had originally been an attachment to the science fiction story of a journey to Mars, which he wrote during his postwar internment [2]. In his story, he makes the crew members go through a 1-month isolation prior to their flight to Mars, in order to let this character screening test verify their ability to manage psychological distress [3]. When he modified this story for Collier's magazine edition, he writes about how states of tension and hatred appear among the crew members after several months, which could even have led to murder [2]. At this time, researchers were not only interested in physiological questions anymore but also in psychological aspects of extraatmospheric flights [4]. In the years 1956–1958, the first simulations of a stay in a cosmic cockpit took place, which included not only physiological but also psychological monitoring [5]. During one of these experiments, a decline in performance and mood was observed. Due to displays

of hatred toward the researchers, the question arose whether to prematurely end the week-long isolation study [6]. The founding of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1958 allowed the extension of the experimental research program, including psychosocial aspects of long-term space flights. The psychological prerequisites for managing a cosmic flight were also considered important during the selection of the first astronauts in the Mercury project—besides an interview, as well as personality and performance psychological testing, candidates were sociometrically questioned, including whom of their colleagues they would commission to fly if they themselves could not and with whom they would most like to undertake the flight if the crew only had two members [5]. In his summarizing study, Christensen [7] reverted to the progress and results of this selection, to the existing interpersonal antagonisms, as well as to other findings. In explicit relation to the preparation for a flight to Mars, Christensen wrote about the need to research the impacts of cosmic flights on human behavior. Chambers [8] reached the conclusion in his summarizing study that psychological variables have a greater impact on the progress of simulated flights than physiological variables do. He also concluded that over time, motivation may decrease and that some crew members may become more irritable, even hostile. According to him, this can be prevented not only through a selection of suitable, i.e., stress-resistant, individuals, but also through training, which should include the team's isolation before the flight. In 1963, the Institute of Biomedical Problems (IMBP) was founded in the Soviet Union, whose purpose was to deal, among other things, with the research of the conditions of a flight to Mars [9]. In 1964, the first experiment took place in the IMBP—a 120-day-long stay of a threemember crew in a module imitating a spaceship designed for a flight to Mars [10, 11]. Following up, an experiment of a 1-year isolation of a three-member crew took place in 1967–1968 [11]. As one of the participants of this 1-year experiment later indicated [12], it turned out that "the problem of the crew's psychological tolerance is one of the key problems of the medicinally psychological assurance of lengthy cosmic flights." Fraser [13] analyzed 60 confinement studies and also reached the conclusion that feelings of anger and animosity, directed either at other crew members or at the researchers and other outside persons they communicate with, occur frequently. Haythorn [14] indicated in his summarizing study that interpersonal relationships do not always alleviate stress but can also produce it. Furthermore, he notes that little is known about the behavior of isolated groups in stress situations, due to the lack of longitudinal studies. As Suedfeld [15] later pointed out, it is possible to deduce, to a certain extent, the behavior of people on long-term cosmic missions from early terrestrial and marine exploration voyages, which also illustrate the importance and vulnerability of mutual interpersonal relationships. Kanas and Fedderson [16] conducted their review bearing in mind the fact that the mission to Mars will be a long-term one. Among other things, they point out that in the longer term, restrictions of interpersonal contact may appear. Like other similarly oriented research, they recommend reducing the risks with a suitable selection of people and with activities compensating the monotony and sensory deprivation. Vinograd's work [17] was a synoptical summarization in its time, comprised of 14 studies simulating cosmic flights but also of comparable studies of submarine crew members, teams in arctic or military environments, or in other situations of isolation. An analysis of individual studies reveals not only the importance of mutual relationships but also the lack of tools for a continuous (quantitative) capturing of their changes. In 1975, the newly founded European Space Agency (ESA) joined the other research institutions in their coverage of cosmic research (including psychosocial questions).

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*Psychosocial Aspects of a Flight to Mars DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.91021*

**2. Deepening of the research on psychosocial factors**

During the 1970s, it was proven during real cosmic flights that relationship and communication issues can have grave consequences. In 1974, the first cosmic strike of a crew led by William Pogue took place, who reasons in his autobiography [18] that the strike happened due to the demanding work program, which did not include time for rest. The exhaustion culminated in a conflict between the control center and the astronauts, to which the astronauts reacted with a 24-hour silence. In 1975, the astronauts themselves pointed out the importance of the psychological aspect of space flights [19]. In 1976, a premature abortion of the mission of the two-member crew of Volynov and Zholobov occurred, which was later attributed to the demanding work conditions, the worsening psychological state of the crew, but also to the serious conflicts between the two astronauts [20, 21]. Almost 10 years later, Harrison and Connors [22] suggested lowering the psychological and interpersonal vulnerability of the team not only by a suitable selection of crew members but also through training in group dynamics and by offering psychological support. They request that the anecdotal testimonies of the importance of these factors be examined by systematic scientific research. In cooperation with the IMBP, the Štola 88 experiment was conducted in the former Czechoslovakia, in which the comparison of two teams simulating a flight to Mars showed how differently the communication can develop during isolation depending on the composition of the team and leadership type [23–25]. In this 23-day experiment (structured for the crew as thirty 18-hour days), it was shown, among other things, that part of the tension manifested itself in a deterioration of the communication with the control center [24, 25]. In a later debriefing, the presence of a woman in one of the teams was mentioned as positive [26]. Related to the renewed considerations of a journey of six (or more) astronauts to Mars, Kanas [27] points to the possible impact of psychological, psychiatric, and interpersonal factors on the safety and success of such a mission. He mentioned interpersonal tension, a continuously decreasing team cohesiveness, the need for privacy, and the leadership's contradicting focus on the task and on emotions. In the 1990s, under the tutelage of the European Space Agency, a 30-day experiment with a six-member crew, Isolation Study for European Manned Space Infrastructure (ISEMSI-90), was carried out [28], as well as a 60-day experiment with a four-member crew, Experimental Campaign for the European Manned Space

Infrastructure (EXEMSI-92) [29]. To capture the relationship dynamics, the Systematic Multiple Level Observation of Groups (SYMLOG) method [30, 31] was utilized, for example, as well as an analysis of spatial behavior [32, 33] and an analysis of the communication with the control center [34, 35]. During a summary of the EXEMSI experiment's results [36], it was noted that while no conflicts occurred within the team, this came at the expense of suppressing affection and a more rigid functioning of the team. Cazes and his colleagues believe that it was possible to maintain such a communication thanks to the experiment's relatively short duration and to the absence of any real risk. They consider this type of behavior inadequate (even dangerous) for a real space flight. They also point out that the team's cohesiveness was maintained by using the management as a scapegoat, as demonstrated by the criticism of the ground crew during crisis situations. For this reason, Cazes et al. [36] have doubts whether the harmony presented in sociometric tests was real or apparent. An important stimulus for the research of communication in the 1990s was the analyses proving that a majority of accidents in aviation are caused by human factors [37]. As it later turned out, after the introduction of standardized communication rules (the crew management system), accidents caused by human factors decreased significantly [38]. In 1994, a joint project

*Mars Exploration - A Step Forward*

of hatred toward the researchers, the question arose whether to prematurely end the week-long isolation study [6]. The founding of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1958 allowed the extension of the experimental research program, including psychosocial aspects of long-term space flights. The psychological prerequisites for managing a cosmic flight were also considered important during the selection of the first astronauts in the Mercury project—besides an interview, as well as personality and performance psychological testing, candidates were sociometrically questioned, including whom of their colleagues they would commission to fly if they themselves could not and with whom they would most like to undertake the flight if the crew only had two members [5]. In his summarizing study, Christensen [7] reverted to the progress and results of this selection, to the existing interpersonal antagonisms, as well as to other findings. In explicit relation to the preparation for a flight to Mars, Christensen wrote about the need to research the impacts of cosmic flights on human behavior. Chambers [8] reached the conclusion in his summarizing study that psychological variables have a greater impact on the progress of simulated flights than physiological variables do. He also concluded that over time, motivation may decrease and that some crew members may become more irritable, even hostile. According to him, this can be prevented not only through a selection of suitable, i.e., stress-resistant, individuals, but also through training, which should include the team's isolation before the flight. In 1963, the Institute of Biomedical Problems (IMBP) was founded in the Soviet Union, whose purpose was to deal, among other things, with the research of the conditions of a flight to Mars [9]. In 1964, the first experiment took place in the IMBP—a 120-day-long stay of a threemember crew in a module imitating a spaceship designed for a flight to Mars [10, 11]. Following up, an experiment of a 1-year isolation of a three-member crew took place in 1967–1968 [11]. As one of the participants of this 1-year experiment later indicated [12], it turned out that "the problem of the crew's psychological tolerance is one of the key problems of the medicinally psychological assurance of lengthy cosmic flights." Fraser [13] analyzed 60 confinement studies and also reached the conclusion that feelings of anger and animosity, directed either at other crew members or at the researchers and other outside persons they communicate with, occur frequently. Haythorn [14] indicated in his summarizing study that interpersonal relationships do not always alleviate stress but can also produce it. Furthermore, he notes that little is known about the behavior of isolated groups in stress situations, due to the lack of longitudinal studies. As Suedfeld [15] later pointed out, it is possible to deduce, to a certain extent, the behavior of people on long-term cosmic missions from early terrestrial and marine exploration voyages, which also illustrate the importance and vulnerability of mutual interpersonal relationships. Kanas and Fedderson [16] conducted their review bearing in mind the fact that the mission to Mars will be a long-term one. Among other things, they point out that in the longer term, restrictions of interpersonal contact may appear. Like other similarly oriented research, they recommend reducing the risks with a suitable selection of people and with activities compensating the monotony and sensory deprivation. Vinograd's work [17] was a synoptical summarization in its time, comprised of 14 studies simulating cosmic flights but also of comparable studies of submarine crew members, teams in arctic or military environments, or in other situations of isolation. An analysis of individual studies reveals not only the importance of mutual relationships but also the lack of tools for a continuous (quantitative) capturing of their changes. In 1975, the newly founded European Space Agency (ESA) joined the other research institutions in their coverage of

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cosmic research (including psychosocial questions).
