ments of the mission. We psychiatrists sat in on all the debriefings, long and short.
Nobody then felt that such a thing was outside the range of what was allowed.
What we had to say was very positive. ⁴

This lack of openness on the part of NASA management has plagued
the agency throughout its life span, even if it only became obvious after
the Challenger disaster. It has caused and causes rumors, innuendo, and
fantasies about what is really going on. Particularly in the case of the psy-
chological status of astronauts, there is a considerable amount of anec-
dotal -- and often completely false -- information that has been spread
around for decades. "I remember reading once about the well-known case
of the 'chicken' astronaut who went psychotic in space. Well, unless some-
body later on knows something I don't know, that certainly didn't happen
back in our day. I think it would have been very positive if more of it had
been released." ⁵

The exclusion of behavioral research began shortly after the Mercury
program was under way. While psychiatrists and psychologists were still
involved in astronaut selection, their role was ambiguous and became even
more so as the years progressed. It is hardly surprising that psychological
research in the U.S. Space Program is somewhere between twenty and
thirty years behind all other medical disciplines. And yet the agency has
repeatedly stated that psychological adaptation will be (along with cardio-
vascular and musculoskeletal adaptation) one of the most significant prob-
lems of long-duration space flight. Intuitively, this seems clear to most of
the general public, who often ask me about psychological factors when I
give talks and who are surprised and dismayed to learn that NASA has
never done any research on the subject.

This book represents the accumulated work of many people over a
period of thirty years of space history. It covers material that is not a well-
known part of that - history -- a history that has celebrated a few courageous
male, and even fewer female, astronauts who have had the privilege of fly-
ing in space. The record has tended to ignore the thousands of dedicated
men and women who made the dream come true for those fortunate few
astronauts. This book recognizes some of those lesser known but nonethe-
less dedicated individuals.

I believe that the destiny of the human species lies in the exploration
and colonization of the universe. I felt admiration and awe as a teenager
when Apollo 11 landed on the Moon -- without question one of the high-
lights of my young life. But it was a magical TV series called "Star Trek"
that made me understand the role I wanted to play. Many of the show's
episodes dealt with the psychological and philosophical foundations of
mankind's need to explore space. What motivates the Captain Kirks? The
Ensign Uhurus? The Doctor McCoys? I wanted to understand what it was
that made those characters want to explore strange, new worlds. It was not
until 1979 that Tom Wolfe coined the term the "right stuff" to describe the

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