Content and structure of crew’s communicative behavior and gonadal hormone excretion during long-term chamber isolation of all-male international crew

Abstract

The characteristics of psychophysiological adaptation to the simulation of the extended autonomous manned mission to Mars with limited resources and external communication were studied. The behavioral (communication with the external world) and physiological correlates of 105-day life and work in a pressurized compartment of the crew of six male subjects representing Russian and European space agencies under the conditions of sensory deprivation, confinement, monotony, and high autonomy were studied. Psychological, physiological, and biochemical (urinary cortisol and gonadal hormones) testing together with content analysis of the crew’s communication with the external world were made in parallel. The results confirmed, to a considerable extent, the preliminary hypothesis about the serious impact of stressful factors, including conflict, the significant decrease of the variety and scope of communication with the outer world, and social pressure on the verbal behavior and hormone levels in the future Martian crew. The correlation between the metabolism of the gonadal hormones and the volume, content, and creativity of the verbal human behavior during various stages of adaptation to the extended isolation in pressurized compartments has been discovered.