The narratives presented here were developed by the research team to better understand the themes found in and across the astronaut data amassed as part of the Astronaut Ethnography Project. A few types of narrative were developed as part of our synthesis — patterns of self-reported experiences across participants, common design opportunities and pain points, and surprising observed trends in behavior. Included below are a selection of these narratives.
These narratives are by no means the only stories told in this data, and we encourage you to explore our Insights and Sources to find additional patterns and themes. The selection of narratives presented here are excerpts of broader analyses presented in the following publications —
S. Sharma, S. Fish, A. Ekblaw, “Astronaut-in-the-Loop: An Iterative Design Research Framework for Space Environments.” 50th International Conference on Environmental Systems, July 2021. Available at: https://ttu-ir.tdl.org/handle/2346/87265S.
Sharma, S. Fish, A. Ekblaw, “Astronaut Ethnography: A Design Research Approach to Microgravity.” IAC-20,E5,5,7,x60878, 71st International Astronautical Congress, 12 – 14 October, 2020. Available at: https://iafastro.directory/iac/paper/id/60878/summary/