Psychological transformation to which only astronauts are subject

We know very little about the impact that space travel has on the human psyche. But the little that we know says that this influence is very strong. Taking into account the activation of space programs aimed at the colonization of Mars, it is extremely important to psychologically prepare astronauts for a long flight.

One day, Edgar Mitchell, a crew member of Apollo 14, described his condition in the following way when he first saw Earth from space:
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You are embraced by a comprehensive and deep awareness of the path, direction in which humanity is heading, and a strong feeling of disappointment about the state of the world, and an obsessive desire to do something, to correct it. From there, from the moon, international politics looks like child's play. I want to grab all these politicians by the neck and drag them a quarter of a million miles away and say, "Look at this, you son of a bitch."

This instant sense of awareness is a hallmark, a symptom of what the writer and philosopher Frank White called the “overview effect” (overview effect) in the book of the same name. By the way, the immortal monologue of Karl Sagan The Pale Blue Dot is, in fact, a classic description of the “general review effect”.

Sydney Brownstone, who studies this effect, writes:

This is a highly emotional anomalous state experienced in space, a kind of cosmic sign of human progress. Frank White came to this idea in 1987, and today it has become a kind of spiritual ridge of the commercial space tourism industry. After the death of several astronauts during the explosion of the Challenger in 1986, Uyat stated in his work The Overview Effect: “Space research and the Evolution of Mankind, absorbing national budgets, will not allow us to fully use the full potential of space exploration. The effect of a general review, which, in theory, will spur humankind to resettlement outside the Earth for the sake of its own survival, will help us in this. ”

Brownstone spoke with several pilots, astronauts, historians, and aeronautical experts about their sensations and experiences, but Mei Jemison’s thoughts on the general review effect are of particular interest:

Jamison experienced this effect in preparation for space flight. But this event found a different response in it, unlike other astronauts. “When I read The Overview Effect, people began to talk about the fact that their hearts are connected to this planet. But when I found myself in space, I felt that I was connected in general with the whole Universe. Sometimes on Earth, I even felt more isolated from the rest of the universe. I felt that I had as many rights to be in space, in this universe, like any part of interstellar dust. I felt just as eternal. ”

Jamison believes that whatever feeling envelops you in space, it depends a lot on your perception, your view of the Universe - and your own existence - from here, from Earth. And in this connection, as she says, a general overview may be only one of many new cosmic syndromes that affect people leaving their home planet. “In a sense, spaceflight is a Rorschach test for your faith.”

We still need to learn a lot about the psychological effects exerted during space flight, be it a short flight along the boundary of the atmosphere or a mission into deep space. Many studies of the psychological state of people caught in prolonged isolation in a confined space have yielded very diverse results.



Take, for example, the mission of the Mars-500 European Space Agency. Four of the six members of the experiment noted “behavioral stimuli” and “psychological discomfort,” which led to interpersonal conflicts and tensions between the crew and the mission leadership.

Passed for 520 days, the Mars-500 was the longest psychological isolation experiment in the history of ESA, but although the conditions “aboard” were not easy, they did not shed much light on what astronauts might encounter during this flight to Mars. Crew members traveling on a one-way trip need to be able to psychologically accept the fact that they are literally millions of kilometers from home, locked in a cramped box, without the possibility of leaving it (at least until a successful landing on Mars or a forced return to the ground).

It is noteworthy that the participants in the Mars-500 experiment have never had a chance to experience the effect of a general review, all this time they have not flown anywhere. The downside of the sense of novelty brought by the effect of a general view is anxiety due to so long a distance from home. No participant in the Mars-500 experiment expressed a desire to leave the “base”, although they had such an opportunity. Therefore, one cannot ignore the influence of a sense of security from the fact that they have always known that they have a “emergency exit”.