Thse insights have been pulled from the individual experiences of astronauts and cosmonauts recorded in published first person accounts — journals, diaries, debriefs, and post-flight reflections.As this database includes the personal, subjective experiences from a diversity of flyers, they may sometimes contradict, but together they provide a more holistic, if messy, picture of life in space. To learn more about how these categories were developed, please see this related publication.
“…availability of the i-phone, videoconferencing, email, the view of the Earth, and the ability to broadcast our thoughts and experiences through social media has largely solved the major behavioral health issues for long-duration spaceflight of 6 months or less.”
“The day always ends with a phone call to home. We rely on satellite coverage, operating laptops, and lack of cell phone drops to keep a conversation going. It’s a delicate chain that often breaks.”
“We watched The Avengers. It was a fun movie to watch as a crew. The BHP [Behavioral Health and Performance] folks do a great job supporting us and we are lucky to have them.”
“Watching [World Cup] soccer on the laptop via Ku uplink has become the community activity of late. …There is something great about watching live major sporting events up here. Gives a good connection to family and friends.”