Jeffrey Johnson, an anthropologist at the University of Florida is making the case that long space missions need a crew with a good sense of humour. He’s in fact working with NASA on a study to demonstrate the importance of it on long space flights.
When sending a manned mission into space, NASA has to pick the participants with great care. Aside from space training, the team needs to at least have a leader, a medic, and an engineer.
But one researcher says there should also be a slot for a comic relief, too. Nope, this isn’t a joke.
Jeffrey Johnson, an anthropologist at the University of Florida is making the case that long space missions need a crew with a good sense of humour. He’s in fact working with NASA on a study to demonstrate the importance of it on long space flights.
Let’s assume a team of four to six people are making a round trip to Mars, for example. They’re going to be on that ship for about six months at a stretch during each flight, and living together on the surface for 18 months. Either way, it’s a lot of time to be trapped in a cramped metal pod with no one to talk to but the same five other people with you.
Loneliness, homesickness and depression are all real worries, as is tensions running high between team members living together so long. Someone with a good sense of humour then would be good to bridge social divides and defuse tense situations.
“These are people that have the ability to pull everyone together, bridge gaps when tensions appear and really boost morale,” Jeffrey Johnson told The Guardian in an interview. “When you’re living with others in a confined space for a long period of time, such as on a mission to Mars, tensions are likely to fray.”
And Johnson knows what he’s talking about, he’s had a lot of experience studying people living in isolation. Before turning his gaze skyward, he spent years researching long-term missions in Antarctica. It was there he first found that self-appointed clowns and practical jokers were incredibly helpful with both the bonding process, and with defusing arguments.
“These roles are informal, they emerge within the group,” Johnson said. “But the interesting thing is that if you have the right combination the group does very well. And if you don’t, the group does very badly.”
With a manned Mars mission, NASA will have little influence in the day to day workings of the team, since communications could take as long as 20 minutes to reach. “It’s vital you have somebody who can help everyone get along, so they can do their jobs and get there and back safely,” Johnson said. “It’s mission critical.”
Stay tuned for more updates!
