While researchers know that space travel can stress space crew members both physically and mentally and test their ability to work together in close quarters, missions to Mars will amplify these challenges. Mars is far away ' millions of miles from Earth ' and a mission to the red planet will take two to two and a half years, between travel time and the Mars surface exploration itself. As a psychiatrist who has studied space crew member interactions in orbit, I'm interested in the stressors that will occur during a Mars mission and how to mitigate them for the benefit of future space travelers. Given the great distance to Mars, two-way communication between crew members and Earth will take about 25 minutes round trip. This delayed contact with home won't just hurt crew member morale. It will likely mean space crews won't get as much real-time help from Mission Control during onboard emergencies. Because these communications travel at the speed of light and can't go any faster,...
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