As O. Henry, the American short story master, once wrote, if you want to encourage murder, lock two people up in a small room for a couple of months. In space, all missions take place under such conditions -- cramped quarters and constant company.
Inside the Russian space stations, Salyut and Mir, for example, cosmonauts have spent extended periods of time in an area that is only approximately six by eight by thirty feet. Clearly any kind of escape -- closing a door, taking a walk, meeting new people--is impossible. At least the cosmonauts can still maintain radio and video contact with the Earth. But how might people cope with such stresses in the emptiness of space during a trip to Mars that would last between one and three years?
A sense of humor and resourcefulness will be essential. (Astronauts and cosmonauts on extended missions clown around with weightlessness and entertain each other with musical performances.) A sense of team unity and respect among crew members will also be key.
That is why the ideal crew members for coping with the hardships of going to Mars will have to be flexible, motivated, self-confident, and deeply dedicated to their work. They should be people who practice the Golden Rule in all aspects of their lives. But they will also have to be true leaders, people with enough ambition, ego, and passion to rise to the top of their fields and to survive a difficult selection process.
Finding a person with all of these traits who is easygoing is not easy. And finding eight such people (since eight is the generally accepted minimum number of crew members for a safe round trip to Mars) to form a compatible and harmonious group is even harder.
