News | Tuesday, 12th October 2021
Impact of prolonged isolation on astronaut health and performance to be researched in new study
UK Space Agency-backed project will investigate impact on mental and physical health, as well as team function
Researchers from Manchester Metropolitan University will explore how astronauts cope mentally and physically with the prolonged isolation they will experience on long-duration space travel.
The study will investigate the effect isolation has on astronauts’ stress levels, performance, ability to function as a team and physiological health. It is one of five projects funded by the UK Space Agency to support the much longer space missions that are needed to explore the Moon and further afield.
The team of Manchester Metropolitan researchers will analyse astronauts during and after an eight-month isolation period as part of the international SIRIUS space programme, designed to simulate the effect of space travel on the body and mind. During this time, crew members are confined to a facility with limited access to the outside world, just four chambers to live in and real space scenarios to contend with.
It is well known that the effects of space travel quickly take a toll on astronauts both mentally and physically. This project aims to understand the effect of much longer space travel and to develop methods of helping astronauts cope. The findings will enable space agencies to identify periods of optimal team performance and health, and where intervention and support may be required.
Professor Marc Jones, lead researcher on the project and Professor of Psychology at Manchester Metropolitan University, said: “Space agencies are striving to understand the impact of long-duration space travel and how we can mitigate against that before we send astronauts into space for upwards of a year at a time.
“In addition to the physical effects, the mental challenges of space travel are enormous. This is a high-pressure environment, cut off from friends and family, where loneliness and difficulty sleeping are common.
“We want to understand how stress levels and performance fluctuate over time, as well as the relationship between confinement and group dynamics among the crew – all things that, if not managed correctly, could jeopardise the success of a space mission.”
Astronauts participating in the study will submit self-reported measures of individual health and wellbeing, team function and group dynamics. In addition to this, the team of researchers at Manchester Metropolitan will analyse weekly biomarker samples – molecules found in saliva – that act as biological indications of group connection and resilient performance.
These biomarkers include cortisol, the primary stress hormone, oxytocin, a hormone relating to social bonding and trust, and the neurotransmitter neuropeptide Y, integral to various physiological functions including appetite stimulation and multiple cardiovascular and gastrointestinal processes.
Based on this biological and psychological analysis, the researchers hope to pinpoint markers of optimal function, as well as indicators that suggest close monitoring may be required or support needed during long-duration missions.
Following the eight-month isolation period, the crew members will also be interviewed about the transition from the mission to ‘normal life’, and what they and significant others – crew, mission control and family – do to make this transition easier.
British European Space Agency astronaut Tim Peake said: “It’s exciting to see this cutting-edge research taking place here in the UK. We can learn so much about the human body from spaceflight. This research could enable astronauts to carry out longer missions and explore further into space, whilst benefiting everyone on Earth.”
Science Minister George Freeman added: “Our space science is about cutting-edge life science as well as rocketry and satellites: the UK is at the heart of state-of-the-art biomedical monitoring, providing huge potential insights into human health. This research could allow astronauts to safely embark on longer and more challenging missions, for the benefit of us all.”
The five projects, all led by universities in the UK, have received a share of £440,000 of UK Space Agency funding.
