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Isolation - Blog Posts
T̵͕̳̜̗̱̑̀̚͜ͅà̵̮̳͇͉̝̲̩͖͌͗̑̂͛͝ḷ̵͕̜͉̣͚̇̎k̶̢͉͓̗̦͔̦̱̉͛̓̿̊́͑̃̍̆ͅͅ ̸̧̮͕͆̒͂̓̏͊̍̕̚t̷̩̯̏̽͠o̶̡̝̞͚̤̝͙͑͑̿̓̒̓͂̚ ̶̔̇̂ͅm̴͈̜̲̬̭͍͍͝ḛ̷̗̺̙̞͚̗̣̻̺̔̆͐̀͑ ̵̣͓͙̥̥̀̾̈́̓̽͊̾̽̚a̴̩̬̬̪̪͓͔͎̒͗͠s̸̳̞̘̟̅̑͌̃͝ ̵̢̨̫͓͎̼̖̙̳̺̒̑̂͋͑̍̕͝Ì̷̤̲͍͖̺̟̟̱ ̴̧̨͍̠̝͚̬̯͍̼̈͊ä̷̢̗̲̩́̓m̶̢̨̲̙͎͌̏́̍ͅ ̶̻͚͉͊́̉͆̚̕͝ͅs̸̨̳̅l̸̪̜̦͉͌̀ȇ̶̢͖͝ě̵̯̭̪͉͇͙̙͔̋̃̏̕͝ͅp̷̨̞̦̮̼͍͈̹̭̜͌͒̀̈͆́̈͒ị̵͚̪̻̙̳̰̒̃̊̀͌͛n̵̥͙͖͉̮̏̑̈́̃́͗́͂͜͝g̷̜̤͚̿,̴̢̩̗̜̙̤͈̤̈́̅̚ ̴̥̈́́͗͊̚h̷̬̞̫́ơ̶̺͓̤͉͊̅̓l̷͓͈̩͍͖̮̜̠̝̖̽̆̓̌̈́͆̆͠d̶̢̢̮͙̯̭̩̅̔̉́͗̓͘͜ ̷͇̺͇̀̃͌̕̚m̷̟͇̣̲̠̱̭͕̅͌̓̎͋̎͌̕͝ḙ̷͙͎͖̘̩̪͍̓̎̍̈́ ̸̯̣̳̻͂̂͜w̷̢̙͚͈̪̠͌͂̇̄̎̈́͊͛ͅͅȟ̴͚̜̳͕̝̈́̈́̕̕̚͝i̶͚̻̝͂̃̈́̎͝l̷̲̠̲̉̋̽̽̇e̸̛̻̰̬͖͐̈́͠͠ ̶̡͖̖̼̫͕͔̪̅̏Í̸̡̥̜͇̙͈̘̪̫͗̄̄́̀̍’̸̨̧̺̹̞͇̩͕̜̥̇̑m̵̩̮̈͛̃ ̶̬̫̐̅d̵̬͑̿̇̅͊r̵͈̺̘̖̪͒̐̀e̸̪̹̬̭͍͓͉̘̦̦͆̈̈́̓̆͑̓͘͝ã̸̮̘̹̻̥̠̳́̀̑̀͝m̸̨͉̣͂̽̂͛̑̓̕̕͝ḭ̵̜͖̗̦̫̠̱͛̓͑ͅn̸̘̦̹̻̘̝̎͛͆ͅg̸͔̤̤̹̹̩̹̍̈́̒͘
I feel numb, I don't want to think about anything. It's too much. I didn't want to wake up today. I have a lot to take care of and think about but I just don't have it in me to tend to anything.
I feel numb.
VERY unpopular opinion : it's so easy to restrict or too fast when you're busy
I for one was doing math and history/geography stuff for I don't know how long and literally forgot to eat for 3 DAYS 3 FUCKING DAYS
Uhhuhm anyway I lost liek 7 FUCKING POUNDS IN 3 FUCKING DAYS
*Keeps composure cuz she's a lady* uhum
I started seeing titty bone is ghat even a thing like the cell in which the organs are in prisoned (it legit looks like prison bars ) (don't ask how I know)
AND AND GUESS WHAT. I DIDNT LOOSE TITTY FAT WOOOHOOOOOOOO
I HAVE TITTY AND IM SKINNY
YO BITCH IS SLIM THICK AHAHAH
Again I stopped caring about food like 3 months ago and lost approximately 12kg so
in conclusion :keep yo ahh busy ho
Hehe that one nirvana song
I WANNA HIT BEANSS SO BAD
beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans beans
everytime i open my mouth to say something, everyone just makes me feel stupid. so i just stopped talking.
chat should i actually block every single one of my friends from my hometown and completely isolate myself in another province
Sit Back and Space Out
Peer out on the depths of universe from the cupola windows,
Meander through the hallways of space,
Float in the home office of the star sailors.
Allow yourself to - space out - and imagine life through the eyes of NASA Astronauts on the International Space Station.
Check out other ways to enjoy #NASAatHome, HERE. We've curated videos, activities and fun in one out-of-this world place.
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.
Isolation, Hazard of the Mind
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.A human journey to Mars, at first glance, offers an inexhaustible amount of complexities. To bring a mission to the Red Planet from fiction to fact, our Human Research Program has organized hazards astronauts will encounter on a continual basis into five classifications. (View the first hazard). Let’s dive into the second hazard:
Overcoming the second hazard, isolation and confinement, is essential for a successful mission to Mars. Behavioral issues among groups of people crammed in a small space over a long period of time, no matter how well trained they are, are inevitable. It is a topic of study and discussion currently taking place around the selection and composition of crews.
On Earth, we have the luxury of picking up our cell phones and instantly being connected with nearly everything and everyone around us.
On a trip to Mars, astronauts will be more isolated and confined than we can imagine.
Sleep loss, circadian desynchronization (getting out of sync), and work overload compound this issue and may lead to performance decrements or decline, adverse health outcomes, and compromised mission objectives.
To address this hazard, methods for monitoring behavioral health and adapting/refining various tools and technologies for use in the spaceflight environment are being developed to detect and treat early risk factors. Research is also being conducted in workload and performance, light therapy for circadian alignment or internal clock alignment, and team cohesion.
Exploration to the Moon and Mars will expose astronauts to five known hazards of spaceflight, including isolation and confinement. To learn more, and find out what the Human Research Program is doing to protect humans in space, check out the "Hazards of Human Spaceflight" website. Or, check out this week’s episode of “Houston We Have a Podcast,” in which host Gary Jordan further dives into the threat of isolation and confinement with Tom Williams, a NASA Human Factors and Behavior Performance Element Scientist at the Johnson Space Center.
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.
Welcome Home HERA Mission XVII!
With the Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA) habitat, we complete studies to prepare us for exploration to asteroids, Mars, and the Moon… here on Earth! The studies are called analogs, and they simulate space missions to study how different aspects of deep space affect humans. During a HERA mission, the crew (i.e., the research participants) live and work very much as astronauts do, with minimal contact with anyone other than Mission Control for 45 days.
The most recent study, Mission XVII, just “returned to Earth” on June 18. (i.e., the participants egressed, or exited the habitat at our Johnson Space Center in Houston after their 45-day study.) We talked with the crew, Ellie, Will, Chi, and Michael, about the experience. Here are some highlights!
Why did you decide to participate in HERA Mission XVII?
HERA Mission VXII participants (from left to right) Ellie, Will, Chi, and Michael.
“My master’s is in human factors,” said Chi, who studies the interaction between humans and other systems at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. “I figured this would be a cool way to study the other side of the table and actually participate in an analog.” For Michael, who holds a PhD in aerospace engineering and researches immunology and radio biology, it was an opportunity to experience life as an astronaut doing science in space. “I’ve flown [experiments] on the space station and shuttle,” he said. “Now I wanted to see the other side.” For Will, a geosciences PhD, it provided an opportunity to contribute to space exploration and neuroscience, which he considers two of the biggest fields with the most potential in science. “Here, we have this project that is the perfect intersection of those two things,” he said. And Ellie, a pilot in the Air Force, learned about HERA while working on her master’s thesis on Earth and space analogs and how to improve them for deep-space studies. “A lot of my interests are similar to Chi’s,” she said. “Human factors and physiological aspects are things that I find very fascinating.”
NASA missions all have patches, and HERA Mission XVII is no different. Did you get to design your patch?
HERA Mission VXII patch, which reads “May the Force be with you” in Latin and features Star Wars iconography. It’s a reference to the mission’s start date, May 4th aka Star Wars Day!
“We did!” They said …with a little the help from Michael’s brother, who is a designer. He drew several different designs based on the crew’s ideas. They picked one and worked together on tweaks. “We knew we were going [inside the habitat] on May Fourth,” Michael said. “We knew it would be Star Wars Day. So we did a Star Wars theme.” The patch had to come together fairly quickly though, since a Star Wars Day “launch” wasn’t the initial plan. “We were supposed to start two weeks earlier,” Ellie said. “It just so happened the new start date was May the Fourth!” Along with the Star Wars imagery, the patch includes a hurricane symbol, to pay tribute to hurricane Harvey which caused a previous crew to end their mission early, and an image of the HERA habitat. Will joked that designing the patch was “our first team task.”
How much free time did you have and what did you do with it?
HERA Mission XVII crew looking down the ladders inside the habitat.
“It was a decent amount,” Michael said. “I could have used more on the harder days, but in a way it’s good we didn’t have more because it’s harder to stay awake when you have nothing to do.” (The mission included a sleep reduction study, which meant the crew only got five hours of sleep a night five days a week.) “With the time I did have, I read a lot,” he said. He also drew, kept a journal, and “wrote bad haikus.” Because of the sleep study, Ellie didn’t read as much. “For me, had I tried to read or sit and do anything not interactive, I would have fallen asleep,” she said.
The crew’s art gallery, where they hung drawing and haikus they wrote.
Journaling and drawing were popular ways to pass the time. “We developed a crew art gallery on one of the walls,” Will said. They also played board games—in particular a game where you score points by making words with lettered tiles on a 15×15 grid. (Yes that one!) “Playing [that game] with two scientists wasn’t always fun though,” Ellie joked, referencing some of the more obscure vocabulary words Will and Michael had at the ready. “I was like, ‘What does that word mean?’ ‘Well that word means lava flow,” she said laughing. (The rest of the crew assured us she fared just fine.)
Chi tried reading, but found it difficult due to the dimmed lights that were part of an onboard light study. She took on a side project instead: 1000 paper cranes. “There is a story in Japan—I’m half Japanese—that if you make a 1000 cranes, it’s supposed to grant you a wish,” she said. She gave hers to her grandmother.
The whole crew having dinner together on “Sophisticated Saturdays!” From left to right: Will, Ellie, Chi, and Michael. They’re wearing their Saturday best, which includes the usual research equipment.
On weekends, the crew got eight hours of sleep, which they celebrated with “Sophisticated Saturdays!” “Coming in, we all brought an outfit that was a little fancy,” Ellie said. (Like a tie, a vest, an athletic dress—that kind of thing.) “We would only put it on Saturday evenings, and we’d have dinner on the first level at the one and only table we could all sit at and face each other,” she said. “We would pretend it was a different fancy restaurant every week.”
The table set for a “civilized” Saturday dinner. Once the crew’s hydroponics grew, they were able to add some greenery to the table.
“It was a way to feel more civilized,” Will said, who then offered another great use of their free time: establishing good habits. “I would use the free time to journal, for example. I’d just keep it up every day. That and stretching. Hydrating. Flossing.”
Like real astronauts, you were in contact with Mission Control and further monitored by HERA personnel. Was it weird being on camera all the time?
HERA personnel and the monitors they use for a typical HERA mission.
“I was always aware of it,” Michael said, “but I don’t think it changed my behavior. It’s not like I forgot about it. It was always there. I just wasn’t willing to live paranoid for 45 days.” Ellie agreed. “It was always in the back of my mind,” she said, further adding that they wore microphones and various other sensors. “We were wired all the time,” she said.
After the study, the crew met up with the people facilitating the experiments, sometimes for the first time. “It was really fun to meet Mission Control afterwards,” Will said. “They had just been this voice coming from the little boxes. It was great getting to meet them and put faces to the voices,” he said. “Of course, they knew us well. Very well.”
For more information on HERA, visit our analogs homepage.
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com
Exploring an Asteroid Without Leaving Earth
This 45 day mission – which began May 5, 2018 and ends today, June 18 – will help our researchers learn how isolation and close quarters affect individual and group behavior. This study at our Johnson Space Center prepares us for long duration space missions, like a trip to an asteroid or even to Mars.
The Human Research Exploration Analog (HERA) that the crew members will be living in is one compact, science-making house. But unlike in a normal house, these inhabitants won’t go outside for 45 days. Their communication with the rest of planet Earth will also be very limited, and they won’t have any access to internet. So no checking social media, kids!
The only people they will talk with regularly are mission control and each other.
The HERA XVII crew is made up of 2 men and 2 women, selected from the Johnson Space Center Test Subject Screening (TSS) pool. The crew member selection process is based on a number of criteria, including criteria similar to what is used for astronaut selection. The four would-be astronauts are:
William Daniels
Chiemi Heil
Eleanor Morgan
Michael Pecaut
What will they be doing?
The crew are going on a simulated journey to an asteroid, a 715-day journey that we compress into 45 days. They will fly their simulated exploration vehicle around the asteroid once they arrive, conducting several site surveys before 2 of the crew members will participate in a series of virtual reality spacewalks.
They will also be participating in a suite of research investigations and will also engage in a wide range of operational and science activities, such as growing and analyzing plants and brine shrimp, maintaining and “operating” an important life support system, exercising on a stationary bicycle or using free weights, and sharpening their skills with a robotic arm simulation.
During the whole mission, they will consume food produced by the Johnson Space Center Food Lab – the same food that the astronauts enjoy on the International Space Station – which means that it needs to be rehydrated or warmed in a warming oven.
This simulation means that even when communicating with mission control, there will be a delay on all communications ranging from 1 to 5 minutes each way.
A few other details:
The crew follows a timeline that is similar to one used for the space station crew.
They work 16 hours a day, Monday through Friday. This includes time for daily planning, conferences, meals and exercise.
Mission: May 5 - June 18, 2018
But beware! While we do all we can to avoid crises during missions, crews need to be able to respond in the event of an emergency. The HERA crew will conduct a couple of emergency scenario simulations, including one that will require them to respond to a decrease in cabin pressure, potentially finding and repairing a leak in their spacecraft.
Throughout the mission, researchers will gather information about living in confinement, teamwork, team cohesion, mood, performance and overall well-being. The crew members will be tracked by numerous devices that each capture different types of data.
Learn more about the HERA mission HERE.
Explore the HERA habitat via 360-degree videos HERE.
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com
Exploring an Asteroid Without Leaving Earth
This 45 day mission – which begins Feb. 1, 2018 – will help our researchers learn how isolation and close quarters affect individual and group behavior. This study at our Johnson Space Center prepares us for long duration space missions, like a trip to an asteroid or even to Mars.
The Human Research Exploration Analog (HERA) that the crew members will be living in is one compact, science-making house. But unlike in a normal house, these inhabitants won’t go outside for 45 days. Their communication with the rest of planet Earth will also be very limited, and they won’t have any access to internet. So no checking social media, kids!
The only people they will talk with regularly are mission control and each other.
The HERA XVI crew is made up of 2 men and 2 women, selected from the Johnson Space Center Test Subject Screening (TSS) pool. The crew member selection process is based on a number of criteria, including criteria similar to what is used for astronaut selection. The four would-be astronauts are:
Kent Kalogera
Jennifer Yen
Erin Hayward
Gregory Sachs
What will they be doing?
The crew are going on a simulated journey to an asteroid, a 715-day journey that we compress into 45 days. They will fly their simulated exploration vehicle around the asteroid once they arrive, conducting several site surveys before 2 of the crew members will participate in a series of virtual reality spacewalks.
They will also be participating in a suite of research investigations and will also engage in a wide range of operational and science activities, such as growing and analyzing plants and brine shrimp, maintaining and “operating” an important life support system, exercising on a stationary bicycle or using free weights, and sharpening their skills with a robotic arm simulation.
During the whole mission, they will consume food produced by the Johnson Space Center Food Lab – the same food that the astronauts enjoy on the International Space Station – which means that it needs to be rehydrated or warmed in a warming oven.
This simulation means that even when communicating with mission control, there will be a delay on all communications ranging from 1 to 5 minutes each way.
A few other details:
The crew follows a timeline that is similar to one used for the space station crew.
They work 16 hours a day, Monday through Friday. This includes time for daily planning, conferences, meals and exercise.
Mission: February 1, 2018 - March 19, 2018
But beware! While we do all we can to avoid crises during missions, crews need to be able to respond in the event of an emergency. The HERA crew will conduct a couple of emergency scenario simulations, including one that will require them to respond to a decrease in cabin pressure, potentially finding and repairing a leak in their spacecraft.
Throughout the mission, researchers will gather information about living in confinement, teamwork, team cohesion, mood, performance and overall well-being. The crew members will be tracked by numerous devices that each capture different types of data.
Learn more about the HERA mission HERE.
Explore the HERA habitat via 360-degree videos HERE.
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com