International Journal of Aviation Research Volume 12 | Issue 01 Peer-Reviewed Article Issues Facing Crew Selection for Long Duration Space Flight Missions Andrew Nakushian Florida Institute of Technology John E. Deaton Florida Institute of Technology This paper looks at the issues facing the selection and composition of a crew for a long-duration mission to Mars. It also considers the many psychological and physiological challenges that crew members will face on long-duration space flight. These factors are important because the United States has set ambitious goals of returning to the Moon and going to Mars. The United States has expressed that it intends to set up permanent settlements on both of these bodies. A thorough review is necessary to determine gaps in research that need to be addressed before a safe flight. After a review and discussion of previous research and industry practices, multiple areas of future research were identified. The areas of future research include crew personality, conflict resolution, and mental health. Previous research indicates that the use of the Antarctic as a research analog could aid in answering these and other questions regarding long-duration space flight. This topic of research is important because the United States has expressed interest in returning to the Moon for extended missions and eventually journeying to Mars. Recommended Citation: Nakushian, A., & Deaton, J. (2020). Issues Facing Crew Selection for Long Duration Space Flight Missions. International Journal of Aviation Research, 12(01), 20-34. Introduction The United States is involved in a new space race. However, this race is not between superpowers; it is between private companies. In 2018, the United States announced that the new priority for the space program was to send American astronauts back to the Moon by the year 2024 and eventually to Mars. This new goal is ambitious and rivals President John F. Kennedy’s ambitious goal of landing a man on the Moon before the 1960s decade ended; a goal that was achieved with the landing of Apollo 11 in July of 1969. The challenges associated with sending a crew to Mars are even more immense than those related to sending a crew to the Moon. However, companies like SpaceX, Boeing, and Blue Origin are attempting to meet this challenge. The trip to Mars is approximately six months in each direction, making the round trip at least a year (Munk, 1999). A technical report by Munk (1999) explains the primary goal for mission designers has been to reduce the amount of time in zero gravity conditions meaning a flight would have to occur when the two planets are at their closest. Between the cost of sending a crew up and the logistical challenges set by the orbits of both Mars and Earth, the time on the surface would be approximately 500 days. This would make the entire mission 860 days or just over two years. For this discussion, the length of a Mars mission will be operationally defined as an even two years. The Mars mission will be further defined as consisting of a six-month journey to Mars, a year spent on the surface of Mars, and a six-month return journey to Earth. While the engineering challenges presented by this goal are immense, there is another set of challenges equally as crucial to mission success. This set of challenges involves crew selection. If the crew does not interact well, then the mission’s success will be thrown in jeopardy. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the existing literature from the past twenty years regarding the United States’ space program and identify the major human factors related challenges facing the crew selection process of long-duration space missions. It also seeks to identify areas where further research is needed to develop a set of crew selection criteria for the long-duration missions of the future. Status of Current Research History of Astronaut Selection Criteria In the past, astronauts were all Navy or Air Force Test Pilots, which resulted in them all being young men in their late 20s and 30s. This requirement was the result of a mandate from President Eisenhower that ordered that all astronauts must have been active military test pilots (Sandal, Sgobba, Clervoy, & Kanki, 2018). The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) took this mandate and required that all candidates have: A degree in science or engineering, be a graduate of a military test pilot program, have at least 1500 flying hours, be younger than 40 years old, be no taller than 5’11”, be in superb physical condition, and possess specified psychological attributes (724-5). Nakushian: Issues Facing Crew Selection for Long Duration Space Flight Missions Sandal et al. (2018) explain that while there was no explicit ban on women joining the astronaut corps, the strict requirements made it nearly impossible for women to join and impossible for civilians. It was not until the Space Shuttle program that women and civilians could apply and join NASA’s Astronaut Corps. With the launch of the Space Shuttle program, NASA still wanted the best of the best, but the mission profile had changed. As a result of the changing mission, the crew selection requirements had to be changed. The Space Shuttle missions required mission specialists who were crewmembers that aided in the conduct of experiments. These changing mission criteria led to the need for non-pilot crew members in addition to pilots (Sandal et al., 2018). As a result of the need for mission specialists, the requirement of high-performance jet experience was removed. While flight experience was no longer mandatory, there were strict requirements that Astronaut Corps candidates had to meet, which remain in effect to this day. Current Astronaut Selection Criteria Currently, there are medical requirements, academic requirements, and general requirements that must be met to be selected to be an astronaut. First and foremost, NASA Astronauts must be American citizens. Medically, applicants must be in good health and have a vision that is correctable to 20/20 in each eye separately. Applicants also must have a strong academic and professional background. NASA requires astronaut applicants to have at least a bachelor’s degree in engineering, biological science, physical science, computer science, or mathematics (Dunbar, 2015). On top of this, NASA requires a minimum of three years of professional experience in a STEM-related field. Graduate school can qualify for the work experience requirements as well. A master’s degree in an approved field of study can qualify as one year of work experience, and a doctorate can count for all three (Roemer, personal interview, 2019). One-thousand hours of jet pilot experience can also qualify for the work experience requirement. Additionally, NASA considers teaching experience, including K-12 education, as qualifying professional experience as they want educators to apply for the program (Sandal et al., 2018). Combinations of the two are evaluated on a case by case basis. Once an applicant meets the initial requirements, the application is sent to a review board, consisting of NASA management and current astronauts, which reviews applicants in the second round of the application process (Roemer, personal interview, 2018). This review board assesses the applicant’s educational preparation, work experience, technical skills, and teamwork experience. During this phase, the applicants are assessed as to which ones are most suitable for the current set of missions and openings in the program. After the evaluation board makes its decisions, applicants will be called in for an interview. An astronaut job interview is as unique as the position being applied for. The applicant finalist is brought down to Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, and the applicant is interviewed in person as well as undergoes multiple practical interviews. These practical interviews measure teamwork, technical skills, and decision making. If the interview team is satisfied with the applicant at that point, he/she is accepted into the program for training. At this point, the applicant is called an astronaut candidate or ASCAN (Sandal et al., 2018). This lengthy three-phase application process was designed to ensure that only the best and most qualified applicants get accepted into the astronaut program. The job of an astronaut is very demanding, both cognitively and physiologically. Any mistake can be a catastrophic one in space, especially as long-duration missions become more common in the coming decades. NASA also wants to make sure that the candidates for the astronaut program will make it through the lengthy and costly training process that has to occur before the candidates are mission ready. NASA also sets general requirements which are based on the training needed to become an astronaut. The medical, academic, and work requirements are used as a method of choosing astronaut candidates. In order to officially be selected as a member of the astronaut corps, a candidate must successfully pass intensive training that lasts approximately two years (Dunbar, 2015). The intensive training includes SCUBA as well as G-force training. If the candidates are pilots, they will maintain flight proficiency in NASA aircraft for the duration of this training. Should the candidate fail to complete the training process satisfactorily, he/she will be terminated from the program. For commercial astronauts, the selection requirements are quite different. Since commercial astronauts are not government employees like NASA astronauts, for the purposes of regulation, they are treated as a regular civilian pilot. Like all pilots, the standards for certification are established by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The FAA requires that all pilots of space flight vehicles hold a valid commercial pilot certificate and an instrument rating (14 CFR §460.5). The Instrument Rating was required since space flight vehicles pass through Class A airspace on launch and reentry (Human Space Flight Requirements for Crew and Space Flight Participants, 2005).