Behavioral Health Management of Space Dwelling Groups:

Plans to pursue space expeditionary missions beyond Earth orbit have occasioned renewed concern that crew behavioral health and performance effectiveness, along with spacecraft habitability, will present major challenges to the success of spaceflight initiatives involving unprecedented increases in time and distance on interplanetary voyages. A programmed environment methodological approach that implements supportive performance and research-based behavioral technologies can contribute to meeting these challenges in furtherance of overcoming the ecologically constrained and inherently stressful circumstances of long-duration spaceflight missions by members of confined microsocieties. This paper presents the background context and rationale for applying behavior analytic methods and procedures to support individual and crew performance effectiveness and adaptation for long-duration spaceflight missions beyond Earth orbit, such as a mission to Mars.