The Challenge. There are a number of challenges presented by missions in space that require individuals and communities in space to proactively provide and receive care. Issues associated with significant workload, sensory monotony, the station’s hermetic lab-like interior, and the limited views of Earth, among other factors, contribute to stress while aboard. The opportunity to learn, train, and share with diverse crewmates significantly contributes to crew cohesion, but it remains a challenge to work, live, and take care of a diverse group of individuals in an extreme environment. Ground crew and many support teams provide daily structure and guidance for astronauts with regard to the mission. However, astronauts need to continually navigate and communicate the challenges of balancing mission objectives set on Earth with their own subjective needs.
Due to the unique stressors of the microgravity environment, as well as pressures related to mission responsibilities, astronauts need to mitigate stress, improve comfort, and actively maintain mental wellbeing. The selection for uniquely adaptable individuals, their rigorous training, and the rapport astronauts establish for years prior to takeoff offset some of the challenges inherent in this environment. However, despite this preparation, astronauts still actively seek out moments of reprieve and improvise strategies to improve comfort and maintain wellbeing both individually and as a community.
Strategies and Outcomes. A variety of improvised strategies for comfort and care were identified from our research. One group of strategies involves creatively manipulating the environment, for instance using tape as an improvised table and creating a “baseball bat” for recreation. Another group engages with art, music, and cultural touchstones. These strategies both provide a connection to Earth and allow astronauts to bring their own culture to the ISS. A third group of strategies involves communication and interpersonal caregiving, often through regular conversations and moments of altruism, sharing food and responsibilities. These frequently occur at locations on the station that are conducive to group gathering, such as the cupola and dining tables.
These strategies have an impact on an individual’s self-reported wellbeing, and also contribute to the social and the physical environment. They appear to facilitate the emergence of cultural and communication norms aboard the ISS, as well as an improvised set of additional responsibilities and load sharing while in space. These outcomes benefit the subjective wellbeing of individual astronauts and cosmonauts, as well as fortifying the cohesion of the crew and improving the chance of mission success. Overall, cultural investigations into the populations aboard the ISS give us a deeper understanding of the role that care plays in the unique and constrained environment of space, and some strategies that may be considered in the mission design process of future human spaceflight missions.
