Crew self-organization and group-living habits during three autonomous, long-duration Mars analog missions.

Analog environments for simulating aspects of spaceflight are being utilized for studying the psychological effects of the projected journey to Mars. In 2016, a series of three analog missions concluded at the Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) facility. Three crews, each with six volunteers per mission, completed consecutive missions of increasing duration, simulating the isolation and confinement of a Mars exploration mission. The durations of the analog missions were 4 months, 8 months, and 12 months, respectively. In this paper, former crew members of these three missions compare how each crew organized their schedules with regard to work routines and social activities. We outline group-living habits that evolved similarly in the independent crews, and we discuss where social norms differed, leading to idiosyncratic policies for group-living during each mission. This information may serve as a reference to mission planners of both simulated and actual human spaceflight missions and also offers insights for psychology researchers that could motivate future studies of team cohesion and performance. • Three long-duration Mars analog missions conducted at HI-SEAS habitat. • Self-organization and habits developed independently in the autonomous crews. • Crew decision-making was consensus-driven in all crews, with little hierarchy. • Work load of the studied crews was comparable to that of actual spaceflight crews. • The crews' behavior indicates how habits may develop during actual Mars missions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]