• Previous family issues and
anxiety due to concern.
• Extreme isolation, loneliness
• Working under pressure in
dangerous conditions may not
suit much of the crew as it was
not their position to learn.
• Conflicting personalities in
confined space.
• The crew to ground communication may be delayed adding more pressure to
the crew if it is an emergency situation.
• Reliability of equipment may fail and resources would instead need to be
gathered from the planet’s surface if possible.
• Free time activities must be provided for down time and it must be constantly
changing as preferences may change over time.
• Slow communication with ground may result in lower morale and a sense of
lacking support.
• Crewmembers will need to resolve medical situations and schedules on their
own.
Impact of a Mars Expedition
• The most common psychological reactions have to do with adjusting to being
in space and the precautions involved.
• The most severe case is an issue in adjusting which is called asthenization (like
neurasthenia) which is “defined as a weakness of the nervous system that
produces fatigue, irritability and emotional lability, attention and concentration
difficulties, restlessness, heightened perceptual sensitivities, palpitations and
blood pressure instability, physical weakness, and sleep and appetite problems.”