Reflection of Social Aspects of Professional Activity of Cosmonauts

Abstract

ABSTRACT Cosmonauts represent a specific group of people, whose social bonds, actions, and collective representations are transforming in response to the special conditions of outer space, in which the activity experience is unique for humans. This work studies the reflections of social aspects of the professional activity of cosmonauts in their interviews. The conclusions of the study show that working in a confined space of an orbital station is connected with psychological difficulties; that cosmonaut crews exhibit high psychological compatibility; that cosmonauts have a strong friendships and family connections; that there is effective intercultural communication, which facilitates the joint work in international crews; that democratic management style is the most widespread in crews; that actual work in outer space is considerably different from ground-based training; that the skills obtained during trainings allows to minimize problems encountered; that spaceflight changes people’s mindset; and that people feel global social and environmental problems of the Earth more deeply.