Space Research Group (SRG)

The SRG investigates the mental health of astronauts, with a special interest in emotional health. The group is funded by the British Academy and Leverhulme.

The space economy is booming, yielding a dramatic rise in publicly funded and private space missions. The demand for, and demands on, astronauts is accelerating; the pressures on them to perform and execute missions is immense.

But they can handle the pressure, right?

– Not always, as historic and ongoing incidents reveal.

Costly missions are therefore at risk, especially when ‘we’ venture to Mars with extremely prolonged periods of confinement and isolation.

Already, astronauts experience poor mental health, despite their military grade training. Our empirical research investigates their emotional health, which is fundamental to mental health and cognitive function generally.

We work with an array of international partners and continue to be a catalyst for a global community of researchers focused on the mental and emotional health of astronauts.

We also produce implications for cognate extreme work situations such as deep sea fishing and submarine work.