Human Behavior During Spaceflight - Evidence From an Analog Environment

Spaceflight offers a multitude of stressors to humans living and working in space, originating from the external space environment and the life-support system. Future space participants may be ordinary people with different medical and psychosocial backgrounds who may not receive the intense spaceflight preparation of astronauts. Consequently, during a mission, a space participant’s mood and behavior could differ from a trained astronaut. This study was an exploratory research project that used an artificial habitat to replicate an orbital environment and the activities performed by humans in space. The study evaluated whether the type of environment affects mood and temperament. Two male participants were enclosed in an artificial habitat where they performed Profile of Mood States 2nd EditionTM tests and Keirsey Temperament Sorter®-II tests. The participants later reproduced those tests in their normal living environment. Results from descriptive statistics, paired-samples t-tests, and a comparative study suggested that the type of environment affects mood and temperament. In addition, anecdotal information collected through personal logs confirmed the aforementioned results. The researcher concluded that further research must be conducted to test larger sample-sizes using a structured schedule