Date of Award

January 2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Aerospace Sciences

First Advisor

Keith Crisman

Abstract

This study examined 13 crews participating in analog Martian surface simulations to investigate psychological experiences within the first collegiate planetary surface habitat. The University of North Dakota (UND) Integrated Lunar-Martian Analog Habitat (ILMAH) was utilized with high-performing participant crews (n=42) who were recognized and recruited for their skills. Common environmental similarities that each crew faced included isolation, confinement, time-latent communications, demanding work hours, monotonous tasks, physically strenuous Extravehicular Activities (EVA), personal psychological adaptations, and interpersonal psychosocial challenges. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate self-appraised crew performance measures across continuous phases of isolation and confinement lasting up to 21 days in the four-person habitat. This study utilized the ILMAH Evening Rating Forms (ERF), which included individual responses assessing stress, anxiety, exertion, fatigue, sleep measures, positive affect, and negative affect reported during the simulation. Missions were divided into four phases, with each phase of crew performance compared to baseline assessments using within-subjects repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) to determine significant differences between baseline data and target mission phases. The overall findings provided data on self-assessed metrics from the ILMAH crews, who independently completed nightly reports, under time-delayed communications, in a planetary analog setting. Crew participants ranged in age from 26 to 57 years (M = 34.90, SD = 9.61). A total of 43% (n = 18) of the participants were female, and 57% (n = 24) were male. Participant demographics represented a diverse age range of educated individuals. They were enrolled in various graduate schools nationwide, serving in the military, and military veterans. During this time, the ILMAH facility consisted of a modular design Lunar-Martian habitat, an electric crew rover, and prototype surface exploration suits. These habitat components were deployed for each mission to help simulate isolation, confinement, and support realistic tasks representative of future human missions to the Moon and Mars. The findings related to initial hypotheses included significant phase differences in 9 of 11 self-appraised performance measures when comparing baseline data to the four quartile phases of the mission. The findings also supported the hypothesis that third-quarter phases would be elevated for stress, anxiety, fatigue, and exertion measures compared to baseline. Significant differences were regularly observed to peak during the third-quarter phase of each mission compared to the baseline and other notable flight phases. The findings did not indicate significant differences in sleep measurements when comparing baseline reports to mission quartiles. However, the worst sleep levels were reported during the baseline and early phases of data collection. Findings indicated positive affect was lowest during the third quarter, and negative affect was highest in the third quarter compared to baseline. ILMAH analog missions focused on the effectiveness of the crew and habitat operations for safety and UND mission goals. Psychological assessment techniques explored and expanded here on Earth will better prepare crews for farther, longer-duration exploration-class missions on or beyond Earth destinations. This study proposed a novel and confidential stress reporting approach as a tangible countermeasure strategy for analyzing crew stressors and performance. The ERF survey assessed performance reports applicable to analog simulations, career aviators, astronauts, and possibly other high-demand professions. The underlying premise remains that this information could better support field applications, where significant concerns include facades of underreporting stress, depression, and fitness for duty.

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