As NASA contemplates a manned voyage to Mars and the effects missions deeper into space could have on astronauts, it’s tapping research from another outfit with experience sending people to the deep: the U.S. Navy submarine force.
The space agency is working with a military laboratory at the submarine base in Groton to measure how teams cope with stress during month-long simulations of space flight.
While one travels through outer space and the other the ocean’s depths, astronauts and submariners face many of the same challenges. Isolated for long stretches of time, they rely on crewmates for their lives in remote, inhospitable environments.
“We have a shared interest with the Navy in team resilience,” Brandon Vessey, a scientist with NASA’s human research program, said. “When you stick people together for a long period of time, how are they going to do?”