Living with a small group in a confined area presents unique challenges.
Imagine spending months with one small group of people in a confined area in space. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA; Soviet era cosmonauts; and the European Space Agency, or ESA, have investigated the unique pressures that emerge in such an environment. In the 1980s, sociologist B.J. Bluth and psychologist T. Stephen Cheston wrote about social factors affecting space travel. More recently, the ESA has noted social factors affecting the development of space exploration, particularly the Moon Base project.
Communication in Space
Faces bloat in space since fluid pools to the area due to lack of gravity.
Bluth notes that basic communication presented a problem in space programs such as the Spacelab. The astronauts not speak the same mother tongue and facial expressions were more difficult to determine in space due to the bloating of the face and unusual orientations due to lack of gravity. Social systems, such as scheduling both leisure and work, flexibility in work and leadership roles, were found to be areas of concern.
Culture and International Governance in Space
The Moon Base project will build new geo-political systems.
Culture refers to shared meaning and values. At times during Space Shuttle missions, values and meaning differed between payload specialists and NASA management. The International Space Station required cultural differences, such as food preferences, to be negotiated. The ESA has anticipated the international social ramifications of the Moon Base project. The Moon Base project will provide a context for the building of competencies, including managing and organizing the future's complex geo-political interrelationships.
Stress in Space and at Home
The Moon Base project also will serve as a study on earth's social problems.
Despite psychosocial training and attempts to alleviate high stress levels in space, Bluth reports the Soviet-era space missions reported hostility among astronauts. Americans, at the time, were not as rigorously screened for psychosocial factors. Both Bluth and Cheston noted that mixing genders on long flights was theorized to increase stress. Multiple complex projects with tight time lines increased stress. The ESA theorizes that the Moon Base project will serve as a microcosm shedding light on stressors of the future, such as water shortages, energy usage and ecological concerns.
Public Support of Space Exploration
International space efforts must have public support.
The ESA has identified four social factors affecting the development of future Europe's space exploration: the commercialization of space; the ability to co-operate with international partners; public and political support for space exploration and economics. All four factors affect the U.S. space program as well. With federal budget woes, commercialized space projects are drawing less public funding, which affects support for the program. ESA research points to the rising Eastern nations and the aging demographics of Western nations as social factors affecting public support for space exploration in the West.
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