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PERSPECTIVE article

Front. Virtual Real.
Sec. Virtual Reality and Human Behaviour
Volume 5 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/frvir.2024.1446796
This article is part of the Research Topic Extended Reality for Social Impact: Space Exploration and Sustainability View all articles

Space Psychology: A Comprehensive Approach to the Future of Astronaut Well-being

Provisionally accepted
Annahita Nezami Annahita Nezami *
  • Kepler Space Institute, Florida, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    As humanity embarks on Space Age II, the revival of human space exploration brings unprecedented opportunities and challenges. The commercial spaceflight industry has significantly lowered barriers, enabling government agencies to pursue more ambitious missions to the Moon and Mars in the coming decades. This renewed momentum necessitates a more comprehensive approach to the psychological and well-being aspects of human space exploration.Drawing on the authors training as a psychologist and co-founder of digital technology startup, this paper explores how immersive technologies, particularly Virtual Reality (VR) and advanced interfaces can address some of the unique psychological and social challenges posed by isolated, confined, and extreme (ICE) environments. It highlights the importance of integrating scientific and psychological theories into digital therapies to create comprehensive evidence-based interventions. These interventions aim to significantly improve the quality of life and mission success for future space explorers, offering more than stand-alone one-off solutions. This will require continuous innovation and research in leveraging advanced technologies to meet the evolving demands of human space exploration and habitation.

    Keywords: Immersive technologies 1, advanced interfaces 2, virtual reality3, space psychology4, ICE environments5

    Received: 10 Jun 2024; Accepted: 02 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Nezami. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Annahita Nezami, Kepler Space Institute, Florida, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.