ABSTRACT
Risk. Complexity. Technical demands. Communication difficulties. Interpersonal demands. Confinement. Periods of high task load. Periods of under-stimulation. These are a few of the human challenges in long-duration exploration space missions. These conditions pose challenges not only to humans in space, but also to studying and enhancing performance under such extreme conditions. In this chapter, we examine research on performance in extreme environments such as spaceflight, polar settings, natural disasters, and military settings. We discuss approaches to conducting research in extreme environments, and discuss the value of this research for future space missions.
