I’ve been on this ship with the Hesperis crew for two months now. We are somewhere in the middle of space between Earth and Venus. Travelling to Venus takes about 5 months, which means I still have three months of living (a very generous term for this situation in my opinion) in a 300 ft3 room with three other people [1, 2]. Trust me it’s not fun. It is difficult enough to live in a cramped living area by myself. The most common topic when discussing human space travel is the effects radiation and microgravity will have on our bodies. Rarely do most people discuss the psychological effects space travel causes. Astronauts often experience depression because they are isolated and know how far away they are from Earth [3]. Also, the crew may develop
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Two of my fellow crew members, Frank and Leo, got into a heated argument. They had a disagreement on whether the lander should be operated manually or with a computer. Instead of discussing the pros and cons of each option calmly and thoroughly, like civilized men would do on Earth, it turned into yelling and screaming. They were forming fists until Rachel, the other crew member, and I extricated them. NASA intervened as well, telling them that this issue had been settled before we even left Earth. They did not change their minds and we’re still landing manually unless something happens to our pilot Leo. I know, big surprise. This is what I mean about the psychological effects I mentioned earlier. Being in close quarters with the same few people can be dangerous. If the right group of people, technically the wrong group, are put together, in maybe a week they will all be at each other’s throats constantly bickering and complaining. This can also cause the ground team to start harboring negative emotions and having problems with their comrades [3]. Frank and Leo were arguing about something that was resolved months ago. Just imagine what it would be like if we came across a problem that needed to be solved
Two of my fellow crew members, Frank and Leo, got into a heated argument. They had a disagreement on whether the lander should be operated manually or with a computer. Instead of discussing the pros and cons of each option calmly and thoroughly, like civilized men would do on Earth, it turned into yelling and screaming. They were forming fists until Rachel, the other crew member, and I extricated them. NASA intervened as well, telling them that this issue had been settled before we even left Earth. They did not change their minds and we’re still landing manually unless something happens to our pilot Leo. I know, big surprise. This is what I mean about the psychological effects I mentioned earlier. Being in close quarters with the same few people can be dangerous. If the right group of people, technically the wrong group, are put together, in maybe a week they will all be at each other’s throats constantly bickering and complaining. This can also cause the ground team to start harboring negative emotions and having problems with their comrades [3]. Frank and Leo were arguing about something that was resolved months ago. Just imagine what it would be like if we came across a problem that needed to be solved