The fluctuation of crew’s state and appearance in long-term isolation and confinement - Experiment report from one Mars500 crewmember

Paper number

IAC-12,A5,2,2,x13848

Author

Mr. Yue Wang, China Astronaut Research and Training Center, China

Coauthor

Prof. Bin Wu, Astronaut Center of China, China

Coauthor

Mrs. Ping Wu, China

Coauthor

Ms. YueHong Yang, China

Coauthor

Mr. ZhiMing Gu, China

Year

2012

Abstract

Human never stops their scientific move on space exploration. After the realization of ISS, human exploratry missions beyond Low Earth Orbit, typically Mars, is widely considerated as the next logical step in space on a global scale. The state and appearance of the crew, both physiological and psychological, has been a major concern because of the problems associated with prolonged isolation and confinement. Therefore, Mars500 lasting for 520 days, which is the longest isolated and confined experiment in human’s history, initiated by the Institute of Biomedical Problems and accomplished under the international cooperation with ESA, ACC, CSA, etc.
Mars500 has the unique simulation enviroment which includes six special restictive conditions as following: dimension, resource, workload, physiology, psychology and cultural difference. These combined elemnets imposed psychological and physiological impacts on six crewmembers cumulatively, result in whose state and general appearance fluctuated in the whole mission. According to the different reactions from the crew, the entire duration is divided into five episodes from the view of one crew member. It is the article that reports the process and traits of each period from Physiology, Behavior, Emotion and Cognitive ability. In order to adapt these situations well, Mars500 crew used team and self-regulation to keep motivation, whose experience would be useful for the long-duration space flight and analogue simulations in the future.

Abstract document

IAC-12,A5,2,2,x13848.brief.pdf

Manuscript document

IAC-12,A5,2,2,x13848.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).

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