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What qualities
does an astronaut need in order to be a "perfect" candidate for a voyage to Mars? In retrospect, there can never be a "perfect"
astronaut, because if each astronaut was "perfect," you would have seven astronauts with exactly the same personalities. Instead,
there are some qualities that are deemed "necessary" for a prospective astronaut to have, while there are other qualities
that are "desirable."
There are a few
qualities that need to be present in an astronaut from the start. One of those qualities is adaptability. A round trip to
Mars could take over three years, depending on what Mission Control decides. An astronaut must be physically able to
adapt to weightlessness and the intense radiation, but an astronaut also must be able to adapt to the confined space of the
spacecraft, learn not to dwell on the comforts and luxuries of home, and maintain control of their minds.
Maintaining control
of their minds falls into the second quality, which is not falling into depression. If you were going to Mars, you
would be away from not just your friends and family, but Earth itself. This is more than enough to cause a person
who gets depressed often to become a mental mess. One who falls into depression easily will hurt not only themselves,
but the rest of the crew as well. Depression causes those around them to feel the effects, and since the seven astronauts
will be confined together, depression would spread very quickly.
Third, an astronaut
must be able to work well under pressure. In my experience, many procrastinators find that they do their best work under
pressure (yes, I do procrastinate). Yet it might not be the best idea to have seven procrastinators, because then nothing
would ever get done. Rather, those astronauts who can work well under pressure in an emergency should be the majority
of the crew.
Next is resourcefulness.
An astronaut who is able to be resourceful will demonstrate the capability to use what is available to meet their goal.
An example would be from the movie Apollo 13, when the engineers at Mission Control are able to replace one of the carbon
dioxide filters, despite the fact that the Lunar Lander took circular filters and the crew module took square filters.
On a trip to Mars, the astronauts themselves will have to figure out problems on their own.
The astronauts
also must be able to communicate and work well with the rest of the crew. Each potential astronaut must display a little
of this "communication," because if the astronauts can't communicate with each other, how are they going to communicate
with mission control? Even worse, what will happen in an emergency if the astronauts can't cooperate and collaborate
together? Communication is essential between the astronauts.
Finally, astronauts must be able to accept the differences of
their crewmates and Mission Control. An astronaut can not be taught toleration. If an astronaut does not display
toleration for those they are working with, how will they ever learn to trust their crew? If all of the astronauts, and
all of the Mission Control members as well, do not accept others' differences, cooperation and communication will not
be possible. It is very likely that the first crew to Mars will have international astronauts, so toleration is
extremely important.
Qualities that
are desired don't necessarily have to be personified by the astronaut, because many desired qualities can be taught during
astronaut training at different astronaut facilities. Astronauts will train together for many years before their flight
will be launched. Desired qualities need to be found in all of the seven astronauts, but not all of the astronauts need to
have the same qualities because, again, it would not be a good idea to have seven astronauts who are the exact same. Different combinations
of desired qualities are what will be most beneficial for a trip to Mars.
One of these
qualities is a sense of humor. Being away from Earth for three years is pretty depressing to think about, but if you have
a sense of humor, you can change the atmosphere of the group to be happier. Thus, the crew will be able to perform better
because they will feel a lot happier and more relaxed. Humor makes everything seem a bit brighter.
Another desirable
quality is flexibility. An astronaut must be able to change their plans and experiments in order to "adapt" to the current
situation. Flexibility is different than adaptability, because flexibility goes hand in hand with spontaneity, changing almost
instantaneously. Adaptability takes more time, allowing an astronaut to get used to the normal conditions of the spacecraft.
Flexibility is especially useful in emergencies, because flexible people are able to change whatever their schedule is to
deal with the emergency.
It is also desirable
for an astronaut to be willing to put trust in their crew members and in the people working at Mission Control. If an astronaut
is not willing to have even a little bit of trust, they will not be able to get along very well with their crew members, because
the astronaut will always be wary and will constantly distrust the crew. The astronaut would want to work alone, which would
also damage communication between the crew.
Astronauts also
should have some level of perseverance and determination. Perseverance is the ability to see something through to the
end, and determination is the drive to accomplish a goal. Both qualities are very similar to each other, because they reinforce
each other. An astronaut who perseveres will feel determined to accomplish whatever they are working on at the time. Without
these qualities, there would be no motivation to accomplish anything during the mission.
It is desirable
for an astronaut to be able to mediate disputes between other crew members during the voyage to Mars. Disagreements will probably
occur multiple times, and if an astronaut is able to mediate conflicts extremely well, a compromise will be reached very quickly
without letting the argument carry on for very long. If the astronauts will be together for three years, I don't think that
fighting and being angry at each other will be very useful to them or the mission.
Lastly, it is
desirable that the astronauts possess an optimistic view. Studies have shown that people who are optimistic can live up to
ten years longer than the average person. Optimism will carry the crew through any problems that might occur. Optimism will
also keep up moral because if you always look at a glass of water as half full, then the situation will seem much better than
looking at a situation as half empty.
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