Alone: How to prepare human minds for the challenge of space

If you’re going on a long-haul trip in space, there are plenty of things you need to prepare.

While NASA might be ensuring rockets all work, and there’s enough meals onboard to survive the journey, Associate Professor Ruchi Sinha is thinking about something a bit more abstract.

Humans are not just physical machines. Our mental and emotional needs also need to be met on long journeys to the Moon, Mars or beyond.

In this episode of the Cosmos Briefing, science journalist Jacinta Bowler interviews Dr Sinha – an organisational psychologist who specialises in space at the University of South Australia – about how to ensure humans are mentally prepared for space.