How Astronauts Get Along

Astronauts have a cool demeanor and good people-skills, but six months in a tiny spaceship with the same crewmates can drive anyone to distraction.

"Once, I was evaluating astronaut applicants," says psychiatrist Nick Kanas. "I asked them to give me some examples of things that might cause stress." One applicant, a test pilot, recalled the time he was flying an experimental aircraft and it spun out of control. As the plane spiraled down, he took out his manual, calmly thumbed through it, and figured out how to pull the plane to safety. "His ability to temporarily control his emotions was very striking," laughs Kanas.

Astronauts manage stress a whole lot better than most of us. They have to because there's always some hazard looming: radiation storms, space debris, the possibility of crashing--or just a new list of things to do from ground control. It all adds up.

And then there's the stress that comes from dealing with other people.

Space crews must live and work together in close quarters 24-hours a day, sometimes for months on end. They're also far from home and family, which means they can feel both lonely and crowded at the same time. It's enough to drive anyone to distraction.

more International Space Station crewmates Valery Korzun (right), Peggy Whitson (middle) and Sergei Treschev (left). Space station crews typically spend 4 to 6 months in orbit together

Kanas, a professor of psychiatry at the University of California and the Veteran's Hospital in San Francisco, is studying the way astronauts behave under these demanding conditions. His research began with the shuttle-Mir program in the 1990's, and now he's working with the crew of the International Space Station. As part of the project, called Crewmember and Crew-ground Interactions during International Space Station Missions, astronauts and cosmonauts answer weekly questionnaires for Kanas about their moods, feelings and daily lives in orbit.