Views on Crew Selection
Because the nature of space flight will change in the future due to extended journeys and larger numbers of people in space stations, new factors will influence crew selection and training. For example professionals will be selected from different disciplines and nations. Because of the lengthening of space missions, behavioral and social scientists must plan carefully as the consequences of poor social planning in space missions can be as severe as those of poor engineering.
In the first ten years of the U.S. space program, space missions had no more than three individuals, were exclusively male, and were drawn from the ranks of test pilots or scientists with pilot experience. In the future, missions may be mixed ethnically, culturally. Individuals may not be exclusively pilots, and extended missions may need professionals from other fields of expertise, such as doctors, engineers, or specialists for experimentation and research. But no matter how the nature of missions change, there are certain criteria for crew selection that will remain: flight experience in a high-performance aircraft, ability to function effectively under stress, and the achievement of a certain level of physical fitness.
Because of the amount of time that members of a mission spend in space with limited communication from Earth, small changes in the environment, and no direct access to different individuals, psychology should be interrelated with concerns on the dynamics of human emotion and individual motivation and productivity in spaceflight. Psychology also studies how an individual's environment affects performance. Psychological problems that can strike long-duration astronauts include anxiety, emotional hypersensitivity, insomnia, irritability, and depression. Because of this, attention should be given to providing a variety during the trip; simple things such as meals, sleep, and recreation can influence performance and morale to a great extent.
Extended missions also require that the candidate be able to work effectively and harmoniously with co-workers in what can be a very stressful environment. In recent years the questions of the use of hypnosis as a tool to reduce personal problems during spaceflight has been raised. Now I would love to see that.