Psychology of Space Exploration: Contemporary Research in Historical Perspective edited by Douglas A. Vakoch. Recent research shows that space missions cause the brain’s gray matter to deteriorate in a manner reminiscent of aging, but much faster. This volume, a collection of eight essays along with introductory and closing material, provides varied perspectives on psychology and its relationship to astronauts and the history of space exploration. This section of the website comes courtesy of NASA, whose History Program Office recently published a collection of essays from leading space psychologists which investigated the different psychological factors that affect astronauts during space travel, particularly during long-duration missions. After an initial focus on the psychological effects of space travel, for many years the American space program paid only minimal attention to them, perhaps because the military background of the astronauts militated against what they perceived as the possibly career … Space exploration takes a toll on the human mind and body. Psychology of Space Exploration Edited by Douglas A. Vakoch Explore some of the contributions of psychology to the great space race, orbiter and International Space Station missions, and future space … Psychology of Space Exploration: Contemporary Research in Historical Perspective provides an analysis of these and other challenges facing future space explorers while at the same time presenting new empirical research on topics ranging from simulation studies of commercial spaceflights to the psychological benefits of viewing Earth from space. You’re going to find a rich, motherload of information here regarding a topic that is given little spotlight.

Research from the space station has provided useful information about how astronauts respond to the challenges of space, such as microgravity, confinement and isolation, says Nick Kanas, MD, emeritus professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, who has long studied space psychology. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 2011, 254 pp.. This volume, a collection of eight essays along with introductory and closing material, provides varied perspectives on psychology and its relationship to astronauts and the history of space exploration. Psychology of Space Exploration, Edited by Douglas Vakoch, NASA History Series SP-2011- 4411, Government Printing Office (GPO); (Hardcover) $27.00; (Paperback) $23.00; Washington, D.C.; 2011. NASA has filled this gap quite nicely with Psychology of Space Exploration, an engrossing new collection of articles on this theme. Psychology of Space Exploration.