Spaced-out NASA psycho astronaut plan is mental

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Sunday, 25 February 2007 08:39

Science - Space

Ever since a female NASA astronaut went mental over a failed love affair with a fellow space traveler, the focus on space safety has momentarily shifted from stopping spacecraft from blowing up, to stopping mentally exploding astronauts from doing damage to themselves in space, or to the spacecraft they are travelling in.

It’s all over the news – NASA has had a plan in place for some time on how to deal with the issue of astronauts going nutso in space. An astronaut who has snapped could decide to try and open an airlock, sabotage equipment or just do any one of a number of things that could put not only lives, but the space program at risk.

Because guns and bullets in spacecraft are a no-no, and stun guns aren’t yet on the flight approved list, the standard procedure is more or less to tie people up and administer tranquilizers if necessary to keep an astronaut either calm, or knocked out. Fellow iTWire journalist William Atkins has more detail on exactly what can be done, along with interesting links to official documents in his article ‘How to deal with spaced-out astronauts’.

The NASA worked with the Russian Federal Space Agency to create instructions for the International Space Station, the ISS, in 2001, and this ‘space manual’ has 1,051 pages on dealing with just about every type of medical misadventure that you could think of in space, right down to a procedure for the emergency removal of a tooth. There are also medical kits on board the space shuttle containing a range of medicines and drugs to deal with different situations.

The section on ‘behavioral emergencies’ stretches to five pages, and no doubt this section is being carefully re-studied not only by NASA administrators and the space agencies of other countries, but by astronauts themselves in case they either ever need to administer the guidelines or find themselves subjected to them sometime in the future.

Some of the procedures are similar to those already in place for dealing with rogue military personnel on nuclear submarines, so no doubt these kinds of procedures have had to be used on occasion over the years.

Of course all of this brings into focus the psychological assessments that are made on astronauts on a regular basis before they’ve ever a chance to set foot in the Space Shuttle. But while the tests would likely be comprehensive, as similar tests are for airline pilots, people can be very clever indeed. 

If they really have a problem and want to leave this world in an out-of-this-world way, they won’t be broadcasting their problems to psychologists, lest they be barred from ever participating in the space program again.

So, the news from all of this really boils down to there being firm guidelines for behavior in space, and firm guidelines on what will happen if those guidelines are breached. Astronauts are on notice that hostile actions towards their colleagues will not be tolerated, and every astronaut is likely under psychological investigation to ensure that the success of the space program is not jeopardized.

Humanity’s success in colonizing and harvesting the great riches that await in the solar system and the galaxy depends on it.