The Mars 500 international experiment has provided, within a relatively short time period, a large amount of unique research data on the complex effects of interplanetary spaceflight factors (such as isolation, communication delay, international crew, and landing on another planet as a culminating event of the mission) on the behavior and activities of an isolated small group. The resulting patterns necessitate changes in the recruitment, training, and medical and psychological support of the future crew of a manned interplanetary mission.

Two experiments, with 17-day and 120-day isolation, were carried out within the frame of the Scientific International Research in Unique Terrestrial Station (SIRIUS) international project at the Institute of Biomedical Problems (Moscow, Russia). Manifestations of the “detachment” phenomenon in the crew – mission control center (MCC) communication previously identified in the Mars-500 project were confirmed in this study. As in the Mars-500 experiment, in the SIRIUS-19, the landing simulation in the halfway of isolation caused a temporary increase of crew communication with MCC. We also revealed several differences in the communication styles of male and female crew members. By the end of the experiment, there was a convergence of communication styles of all the SIRIUS crew members and also an increase in crew cohesion.

The article gives an overview of Russian experience in psychological support for orbital space flights. It describes procedures that currently exist and may possibly be used in upcoming manned interplanetary flights. The article also considers psychological unfavorable factors of autonomous interplanetary flights, as well as countermeasures, including promising methods of psychological support.

Space experiment “Content” is held to test quantitative content-analysis of crew contacts with the Mission control center (MCC) personnel as an objective method of operational remote evaluation of crew member psychophysiology, as well as in-group and intergroup (crew–MCC) interactions. The methodology of the experiment is based on the concept that communicative behavior manifests the individual coping strategies. These strategies are considered to be effective or ineffective in context of their influence on the success in person’s activities, which often depends on the quality of in-group communication. In the experiment, we studied the effect of various factors (including mission duration, occurrence of significant events and problem situations, or changes in the crew composition) on the crew oral communication features. The results lend credence to the concept of the “final breakthrough” and reveal a trend towards more frequent manifestations of the third-quarter phenomenon as mission duration extends to one year. Problem situations may increase both the number of ineffective coping strategies and the number of effective coping strategies favorable for mission accomplishment despite pressures and challenges. The observation that a change in status within the crew modifies the style, length, and frequency of contacts with MCC confirms the concept of the commander being the crew’s spokesman. Acquisition and systematization of documented crew statements, together with the identification and description of important speech phenomena, provide basis for future automation of crew–MCC content-analysis.