• Question: How does a persons emotional state change as the go into space

    Asked by EvilPossum123 to Andrea, Charlie 🚀, Col Op, Kirsty on 22 Jun 2016.
    • Photo: Charles Laing

      Charles Laing answered on 22 Jun 2016:

      Hi 288tch27,

      Astronauts go through a very strict selection process and this involves psychological testing to better predict has astronauts will handle stressful situations.

      Once in space astronauts get private time with a psychologist where they can talk about their emotional state and this helps to solve any problems quickly if they were to arise. Astronauts also get a chance to regularly contact friends and family and this can help a lot.

      There is some research that has found something called the ‘third-quarter effect’ where astronauts in the last part of their mission may experience a drop in productivity. But this is still being debated.

      Charlie 🚀

    • Photo: Andrea Boyd

      Andrea Boyd answered on 23 Jun 2016:

      They are very focused on their job and have a busy timeline every day – astronauts train for so many years to go to space that they appreciate and relish their time on ISS and most of the time they volunteer for extra work even! Every week they work 12hour days Monday-Friday, then they have Saturday as a cleaning/maintenance day (like your chores at home!) and on Sunday they have a full day free to do whatever they want and a 1hour private videoconference with their family. So overall their emotional state is pretty stable and they have great ground support from the crew support team and space medicine office.

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