Science Report
January 7, 2013
Gisela Muñoz
Research has suggested that habitat design issues for long-duration spaceflight can affect crew psychological states and behavior. The shape, layout, interior décor, usable volume, human-machine, and human-environment interfaces are just a few of the factors that can have an effect on the crewmember’s psyche. Also, for future missions to Mars, it is imperative that simulations that emulate the conditions found on these extraterrestrial surfaces closely replicates the future habitats that will be used for such missions. Habitat design is even more important today as the private and government sectors of space exploration progress towards these types of missions. To detect changes in crew mood and perception of the habitat design, data will be collected three times during this mission.
Four methods of data collection have been used for the habitat assessment. The first is the Profile of Mood States (POMS) scores for each crew member. The POMS measures participants’ temporary emotional states and has been a reliable and validated method of detecting changes in mood. The second method has been to administer the Habitability Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ). The purpose of the HAQ is to collect data on each crew member’s perception of the MDRS habitat. The HAQ was created for this study based on previous research of assessing architectural spaces and using environmental descriptor adjectives thought to be representative of conditions found in the MDRS habitat. The third method has been to conduct flexible interviews with each participant on the habitability factors described above to obtain further information on their perception of the habitat design and livability. The interview is designed as an open discussion to allow participants to speak freely about their views of the habitat. The final method of data collection was to record verbal and non-verbal commentary made by participants about the habitat environment. However, it was challenging to do this during the day especially when crew members are in separate areas of the habitat. So instead, I have taken a personal log of observations and recorded commentary that has arose in casual conversation.