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Visiting Mars in 2030 is going to take some engineering ingenuity, but making sure astronauts make the long, cramped journey without driving each other crazy is going to be just as tricky.

It 麻豆精品 S檚 estimated that a round trip to Mars will take at least two years. That 麻豆精品 S檚 why is investing millions of dollars trying to figure out the right recipe for creating highly effective, collaborative teams that can troubleshoot themselves out of any problem. The space agency is investigating the role leadership plays in such dynamic groups, as well.

For the past several years several experts on teamwork have been helping NASA with that question. This month, several University of Central experts earned more than $1.2 million to continue their work as NASA looks to prepare its workforce of the future.

麻豆精品 S淲e are looking for ways to identify key social and task-oriented roles on long-duration missions, 麻豆精品 S� said Eduardo Salas, a psychologist and the lead investigator for the NASA Human Research Program grant. 麻豆精品 S淕enerally, we know you want people on a team who are emotionally stable, extroverts, catalysts. But by the end of this three-year study we hope to have a taxonomy to allow NASA to select or compose teams according to desirable social roles. 麻豆精品 S�

Seems like common sense, but difficult to deliver. Everyone who has co-workers knows how a disagreement or clash of personalities can create a nightmare work environment that is depressing and demoralizing if not handled correctly. From a business point of view, that kind of conflict can lead to distractions that take away from productivity and cost the company money.

And unlike most office environments, a clash between astronauts could result in dire consequences for the entire crew. And unlike missions to the moon or the International Space Station, where astronauts can call Houston to help solve a problem, that won 麻豆精品 S檛 be so easy on long missions when the communication lag is expected to be 20 minutes each way to and from Earth.

麻豆精品 S淭here 麻豆精品 S檚 not a lot of hard science yet with respect to team dynamics in long-duration exploration missions, 麻豆精品 S� Salas said. 麻豆精品 S淭here are several groups working on it. We 麻豆精品 S檝e been doing it for a while with other teams as well. But we hope to have a good foundation by the time we finish our study. 麻豆精品 S�

Salas is a trustee chair and Pegasus professor of psychology at UCF. He also holds an appointment as program director for the Human Systems Integration Research Department at the university 麻豆精品 S檚 (IST). His co-investigators on this grant are Stephen Fiore, director of the Cognitive Sciences Laboratory at IST and an associate professor of cognitive sciences in the philosophy department, and James Driskell, a social psychologist with Florida Maxima Corp. in Winter Park.

To compliment Salas 麻豆精品 S� work, NASA awarded a $100,000 grant to associate professor of research Shawn Burke so she can look at the role leadership plays in dynamic and stressful environments. Burke works next door to Salas at IST and is also a co-investigator on Salas 麻豆精品 S� new grant.

麻豆精品 S淐omplex environments, especially like those seen in long-duration exploration mission, will require more autonomous teams, 麻豆精品 S� Burke said. 麻豆精品 S淪o we need to identify the challenges to leadership in such environments and the most effective forms of leadership to combat the challenges. That 麻豆精品 S檚 what I 麻豆精品 S檓 looking at. 麻豆精品 S�

Burke will review behavioral data from NASA experiments conducted in remote environments that are designed with many of the same characteristics expected as long duration space flight.聽 Archival documentation from other teams that work in isolated and extreme environments (oil rigs, Antarctic exploration, firefighting, military) will be examined to look for clues.聽 Interviews with astronauts and key NASA personnel will also be conducted in an effort to gain their perspective and learn from their experience.

Burke earned her Masters and Doctorate degrees in Industrial/Organizational psychology from George Mason University. Her areas of expertise are team dynamics and leadership roles. She 麻豆精品 S檚 been at IST since 2000 and was a research fellow at the U.S. Army Research Institute before that. She 麻豆精品 S檚 published more than 80 journal articles and book chapters related to teams and leadership and has presented at more than 100 conferences.

Burke 麻豆精品 S檚 co-investigators on this project are Salas and Marissa Shuffler, an assistant professor of industrial/organization psychology at Clemson University and a UCF alumnae.

Salas and Burke will also likely bump into each other in Houston when they travel to Houston as part of their grants to visit NASA 麻豆精品 S檚 research facility that focuses on behavioral health and performance. The facility mimics some of the isolated and harsh conditions astronauts are likely to encounter, which should aid researchers.

The conclusion of UCF studies will not only help NASA, but may also help companies and organizations that work in extreme environments on earth, such as oilrigs and the military.

The UCF teams were selected from 123 proposals. NASA awarded $17 million in grants to 26 projects from 16 institutions in eight states.

UCF has a long history working with NASA, from helping it develop hardware to take accurate color pictures of the Mars surface to groundbreaking work on teamwork conducted by Salas and psychologist Kimberly Smith-Jentsch.