Physiological Monitoring of Crew During Repeated 7-Day Habitation in an Advanced Life Support System

Human activities in space must include life in a confined, artificial and isolated environment. We investigated the mental and physiological status of four crewmembers undergoing repeated seven-day habitation in an advanced life support system. In order to monitor the psycho-physiological stresses, saliva cortisol and urinary adrenaline were sampled and visual-analog scale was serially recorded. As a result, saliva cortisol and urinary adrenaline levels were higher in pre- and post habitation. Psychological scales showed a relatively relaxed mood during habitation, indicating that the crew experienced stress in the pre- and post seven-day habitation periods. The periods of environmental change such as those pre-and post habitation seem to be critical for monitoring the health of crew performing analogous missions.