Recommendation 2.6—Validate Current and Future Crew Selection Criteria

The committee recommends that the Astronaut Office and representative flight surgeons be consulted regarding the crew selection process in order to place greater emphasis on the roles of crew compatibility and team performance in overall mission success.

Recommendations 2.7 and 2.8—Group Behavioral Health Risks into Categories Based on Clinical Outcomes, and Address Issues of Human Sexuality in Long-Duration Missions

The committee recommends that behavioral health risks within the proposed new cross-cutting category of Human Systems Integration be grouped into categories based on clinical outcomes such as interpersonal conflict, affect regulation, decrements in cognitive performance, mood disorders, and sleep disorders, rather than categories such as psychosocial, neurobehavioral, cognitive, and circadian rhythms, and that the interrelations between these categories be delineated clearly. In addition, issues of human sexuality should be addressed in the BR in relation to long-duration missions such as the proposed Mars Design Reference Mission.

Recommendation 2.10—Use Actuarial Data to Estimate the Likelihood of Intrinsic Health Alterations as Part of the Selection Criteria for the Mars Mission Crew

The committee recommends that, wherever possible, NASA use actuarial data to estimate and/or model the likelihood of intrinsic health alterations for crew who will be part of the Mars mission. Utilization of this information as part of the selection criteria for astronauts should be considered. After intrinsic health risks are estimated, NASA should then estimate and/or model the contribution of the space environment and life support system malfunction to increased risk.