CONTENT-ANALYSIS OF THE CREW COMMUNICATION WITH EXTERNAL COMMUNICANTSUNDER PROLONGED ISOLATION

Background: The communication between space crews and outside monitori ng personnel in Mission Control gives us Valuable information about cr ewmember psychological health. Studying the formal parameters of simil ar communication during ground-based space simulation missions helps u s understand the psychological climate of confined groups over time, a nd this information can be applied to long-term space missions. Hypoth eses: We hypothesized that psychological closing and information filtr ation will be observed in a confined crew as the mission progresses an d will differ by the type of communication (e.g., audio vs. computer-g enerated) with the outside monitors in the simulated,Mission Control ( MC). In addition, communication patterns will vary with the specific g roup of people on-duty outside. Method: Audio and computer communicati ons between space simulation crews and MC teams were analyzed during t wo isolation studies lasting 135 and 90 d at the Institute for Biomedi cal Problems in Moscow. A number of temporal, content and quantitative parameters of verbal activity were examined. Results: The total inten sity of communication dropped after month 1 of the missions. The Comma nder had the highest intensity of communication. There was evidence fo r the presence of psychological closing and information filtration in the crews over time, with some variation based on type of communicatio n. Communication patterns differed with different outside teams. Concl usions: The communication between confined groups and outside monitori ng personnel is affected by psychological closing and information filt ration and by the make-up of the teams that comprise the monitoring gr oups.