Astronaut chemistry not only discovers how the different personalities of the astronauts work together, but it also can determine what the best combination of astronaut personalities is for the mission to Mars. Each astronaut has a specific personality, and these personalities working together will be able to create the "perfect" team. And after looking at all of the "Astronaut Qualities," the key factor in determining each Martian astronaut is balance. I know in the previous section I told you about how astronauts should display certain qualities. Well, they should have certain qualities, but in balanced quantities. 

First off, each astronaut will display at least some level of the following characteristics: adaptability, maintaining control of their mind and depression, working well under pressure, resourcefulness, communication, and toleration of others. These characteristics work together to create an individual who is able to get onto a spacecraft to Mars and complete all mission requirements while still maintaining their sanity. The individual astronaut should be well rounded with these qualities.

 

This means that as a whole, a crew where every member has these same qualities will essentially understand each other better because they are so similar. In an emergency, the crew will react almost as one, realizing the necessity to work together to overcome the problem. These six specific qualities create a balance for all of the crew members, and will make their trip more enjoyable when everyone is on the same page.

 

Since all the astronauts will have the quality of adaptability, each astronaut will be able to become used to the norms of the spacecraft and their duties that they must perform each day. All of the astronauts will be able to adapt relatively comfortably to the environment of weightlessness, and their minds will be able to adapt to the concept of being many miles away from Earth.

 

And all of the astronauts will have some level of control over maintaining their level of depression. If the astronauts all control their depression, everyone will be much happier, and the crew in turn will be more productive.

 

The quality of working well under pressure will be used by all of the astronauts  in order to accomplish deadlines and work quickly during emergencies. If all of the astronauts finish their tasks, then the astronauts will not be waiting for one part to come in, and their stress levels will be reduced immensely when all of the tasks are completed on time or the emergency is taken care of.

 

The combined resourcefulness of the astronauts will produce an incredible amount of problem solving for the crew. Imagine one person who is able to use what little materials are available and make it into something that is needed. Now multiply that by seven astronauts. Most problems will be fixed with their combined resourcefulness.

 

If all astronauts have the skill of communication, then problems will be solved faster, information will be relayed to each other smoothly, and tensions will remain very low. Communication is essential between the team, because when getting a response from Earth is 15 minutes away, communication will allow the astronauts to bounce ideas off of each other.

 

And finally the quality of tolerance. When all astronauts are able to tolerate each other, a bond is formed between the crew. The astronauts begin to trust each other, and soon the crew will become almost like family. Accepting each others' differences is the key to communication and to trusting one another.

Each of the six necessary qualities brings the crew closer together, and helps to facilitate "astronaut chemistry." Yet now the crew thinks alike, acts alike, and is alike. What makes the crew "click" together and bind them even closer together is their differences. Some of the desirable qualities are found in some astronauts, and other qualities are in other astronauts. Even with the necessary qualities, the astronauts have different levels of each quality,

 

For example, some astronauts will work so well under pressure, that they don't do anything until the last minute. This is an "extreme." Rather than taking extremes of each quality, each astronaut should have a balance of the necessary qualities, and have a balance of a few of the desirable qualities in order to strengthen their individual personalizes.

 

A sense of humor in a few of the astronauts will boost the moral of the entire crew. Those telling the jokes will be having fun, and those listening to the jokes will be laughing. This "balance" allows the members of the crew to feel like they have a special place on the mission. Yet too much humor will grow thin, so not everyone should try to be funny.

 

Flexibility is a great quality to have, yet one must be careful. If for some reason a meteorite is blocking the path, quickly finding an alternate route is a good quality to posses. But again, balance is key, because those people may make decisions too quickly, and the other astronauts who are not so flexible will see the errors of the flexible astronauts.

 

Now trust is something nice to have, because trust allows members to bond together better. But if someone is too trusting, then they may believe that someone else will remember to change the filters, but that person will forget it is their turn. Trusting that someone will do their work is good, but double checking is even better.

 

Perseverance and determination can also get some of the astronauts into trouble if the qualities are at the extremes. The astronaut will become so focused on accomplishing the goal that they will try to accomplish the goal at any cost. It isn't likely, but it is possible that the astronaut would put the entire crew in danger because of the drive to achieve the goal.

 

Mediating disputes is also good, but if all of the astronauts were able to mediate disputes, then there would still be arguments about how to mediate the disputes better. If all the astronauts had the extremes of this quality, they would look at both sides of the argument, but they would want to compromise on everything. And many things, such as matters between life and death, can not be compromised.

 

Lastly, if all of the astronauts were optimistic, there would be no one left to bring the crew back to reason if they were all trying to see the good parts of their situation. It also wouldn't be good for an astronaut to have an extreme sense of optimism, because then, even if something was going horribly wrong, the astronaut would still be optimistic. This would annoy the crew to no end if one of their crewmates was always over-optimistic.

 

Therefore, balance is the key to a "perfect" crew. If each astronaut is able to have a moderate and balanced amount of necessary and desired qualities, then the crew will have an enjoyable voyage to Mars, and they will have an excellent bond formed between them, their perfect "chemistry."