Abstract DGP2026-27

Future concepts for human exploration and settlement beyond Earth increasingly depend on small, highly autonomous communities operating under conditions of extreme isolation, confinement, and environmental hostility. While planetary science and engineering disciplines have advanced robustly, the human factors governing social cohesion, teamwork, and long-term psychological resilience remain a decisive constraint on mission success. This contribution examines these challenges through a Human Factors perspective, with particular emphasis on solution-oriented approaches grounded in tailored candidate selection and the application of stoic philosophy as a resilience framework.

Long-duration spaceflight and planetary habitation expose crews to cumulative stressors, including prolonged separation from Earth, delayed communication, limited social networks, monotony, and persistent operational risk. In such environments, small-group dynamics become highly sensitive to individual personality traits, leadership styles, and cultural differences. Empirical evidence from space missions and terrestrial analogs—such as Antarctic stations, submarines, and isolated military deployments—demonstrates that even technically proficient teams may experience erosion of trust, interpersonal conflict, and declining group cohesion over time.

Historical long-term isolation experiments on Earth provide cautionary evidence of these challenges. Several prominent analog studies failed to achieve their intended scientific or operational outcomes due to underestimated social and psychological factors. Common failure modes included poorly balanced crew compositions, inadequate conflict management mechanisms, leadership instability, and progressive social fragmentation. These experiments demonstrated that technical preparedness and mission realism could not compensate for insufficient psychological screening, limited training in emotional regulation, and the absence of shared value systems to guide behavior under sustained stress.

Building on this problem analysis, the presentation focuses on prospective mitigation strategies. A central argument is that conventional candidate selection criteria—largely dominated by technical competence and physical fitness—are insufficient for long-duration planetary missions. Instead, selection processes should explicitly prioritize psychological robustness, emotional self-regulation, pro-social orientation, and tolerance for ambiguity. Assessment methodologies incorporating behavioral stress testing, group-based evaluations, and extended isolation simulations are discussed as tools to identify individuals capable of sustaining stable social dynamics over multi-year missions.

In parallel, the contribution explores stoic philosophy as a practical framework for cultivating resilience in extraterrestrial crews. Core stoic principles—acceptance of uncontrollable external conditions, disciplined emotional regulation, commitment to duty, and prioritization of collective well-being—closely align with the demands of long-range space travel and planetary habitation. When systematically integrated into selection, training, and leadership development, stoic practices may reduce conflict escalation, enhance individual coping strategies, and strengthen shared purpose within small, isolated communities.

By combining human factors engineering with philosophically informed resilience training, this contribution argues for a holistic approach to sustaining human presence beyond Earth, treating social cohesion and psychological endurance as mission-critical systems.