This happened even though the crew composition was diverse by gender and also cultural background, with pronounced individual differences."Īmong the different ways the crews' behavior was measured included the tracking of facial expressions and speech acoustic characteristics (intensity, frequency and variability of speech) from video recordings.ĭuring SIRIUS-19, the researchers recorded 320 audio conversations with external observers lasting 11 hours in the first 10 days alone. Also, there was a convergence of communication styles of all SIRIUS crew members, and an increase in crew cohesion in the course of their mission. "The rare bursts of contacts were seen during important mission events (eg landing simulation). Dmitry Shved, of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Moscow Aviation Institute, as well as an author of the study. "The crews in such missions tend to reduce their communication with mission control during isolation, sharing their needs and problems less and less," said Dr. Now, researchers have published a paper in Frontiers in Physiology revealing how the crews' communication with the outside world in these experiments not only diminished over time, but caused friction initially, and eventually resulted in cohesion. These missions studied the effects of isolation and confinement on human psychology, physiology, and team dynamics to help prepare for long-duration space exploration beyond Earth. In 20, two further isolation experiments dubbed SIRIUS (Scientific International Research in Unique Terrestrial Station) were conducted across periods of 17 days and four months, respectively, in a facility in Moscow, Russia using international, mixed gender crews. A previous isolation experiment called Mars-500 revealed a psychological detachment from mission control among those who took part, raising fears that it could lead to resistance from future crews in deep space to any commands.
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With little chance of conducting a trial run in space, scientists have resorted to terrestrial experiments to see how astronauts cope with such challenges. This requires crew members to effectively cope with stressful conditions by themselves, with limited autonomous resources available on board. However, those who make the journey will not only have to survive on a freezing planet with no breathable atmosphere, but live in isolation unlike any other explorers in human history.Īt its closest proximity, Mars is still almost 55m km away from Earth, making communication delays and supply issues between the two worlds unavoidable.