**3.4 Personal Recreation and Off-Duty Activities:**

Purposes

Physiological and psychological effects

Types of recreation

Facilities, equipment, supplies, etc.

Privacy issues

Rest requirements

PERSONAL RECREATION AND OFF-DUTY ACTIVITIES

Kira Bacal, MD PhD MPH

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PERSONAL RECREATION AND OFF-DUTY ACTIVITIES

This lesson is designed to provide you with a basic understanding of the
role of recreation during spaceflight. Emphasis is placed on
understanding the types of recreation that crewmembers enjoy, as well as
the physiological and psychological effects of such activities. The
material provides a review of the available facilities and equipment, as
well as an understanding of the issues of privacy and rest as they
pertain to crewmembers during flight.

![](media/image2.jpeg){width="5.25in" height="4.031944444444444in"}

Figure 1: Apollo 14 astronaut Alan Shepard brought a golf club and "a
genuine six iron" to the moon with him.
(http://www.thespaceplace.com/history/apollo/apollo14.html \-- see gif
at http://whizzospace.com/leftovers/leftovers.htm)

Personal Recreation and Off-Duty Activities

**Purpose: Physiological and Psychological Effects**

As described in an earlier lesson, human performance is highly
influenced by morale. For years, military leaders have been aware of the
importance of providing adequate rest and recreation time to their
subordinates, lest team performance drastically decrease.

Boredom, poor morale, increased interpersonal conflict, degraded
performance, and decreased efficiency have all been associated with
inadequate time for rest and relaxation. Even if fatigue is not an
issue, thanks to adequate sleep periods, an absence of interesting
activities for off-duty time is known to imperil mission success.
Reading historical accounts of long sea voyages, as well as examining
current US Navy practices, clearly demonstrates the hazards associated
with a bored and unhappy crew. When dealing with spaceflight, the
environment is sufficiently hostile that anything that impairs
performance puts the crew and mission at risk.

In space, numerous aspects contribute to the stressful nature of the
environment. Crew members are isolated from their friends and family,
surrounded by a hostile environment, confined in a very limited volume,
beset by homesickness, deprived of normal privacy and space, restricted
to a small social circle, faced (in some cases) with cultural
differences among team mates, bereft of normal physiological cues,
expected to consistently perform at very high levels, under constant
media scrutiny, and -- as if that were not sufficient --- they are also
in a physically stressful environment, requiring significant
physiological adaptation. All of these aspects are likely to worsen
during exploration-class missions, when assignment duration lengths may
double or even quadruple.

As a result, flight surgeons must pay considerable attention to personal
recreation options and off-duty activities for their crews. It is well
established that "down time" contributes to healthy interpersonal
relationships as well as enhancing performance. The effects are not only
psychological in nature, but also physiological, as biofeedback studies
have repeatedly shown. Most clinicians are well aware of the benefits,
both emotional and physical, of a good workout (as demonstrated by
recent studies linking increases in physical activity with improvements
in clinical depression), but other recreational activities can be
equally effective.

Traditionally, much attention has been devoted to the equipment needed
for mission objectives, such as robotic arms, or critical life support
systems, like atmosphere control or food supplies. However, as space
missions grow longer and longer, the psychosocial aspects require more
consideration. For a two week Shuttle mission (or even briefer space
tourist visits), crew members are able to focus on the tasks at hand,
with little need for elaborate off-duty activities. In most cases, the
mission itself is the culmination of a lifetime's work, and this
provides them with sufficient pleasure and excitement. With longer
missions, however, the novelty wears off and boredom sets in, along with
additional time for pensive reflection.

If stresses develop at home, especially if they are related to the
crewmember's lengthy absence, they can cause second thoughts, anxiety,
homesickness, and other negative emotions that are less likely to
develop during shorter missions. Off-duty activities become ever more
necessary to assist the crew in alleviating stress and enjoying their
surroundings, rather than wishing they were elsewhere. One method to
assist the crews in minimizing the negative impacts their mission may
have on family life is to involve the family in the flight to the
greatest extent possible. Frequent contacts, as well as CARE packages
from home delivered via Shuttle or Progress, help to sustain the bonds
that might otherwise fray during so long a separation.

**Types of recreation**

Recreation takes many forms in space, depending upon spacecraft
geography, mission duration, and crew composition. On Apollo 14, for
example, astronauts got in some golf during lunar excursions, but that
might not work well inside a habitat module. In Skylab, by contrast,
where the three man crews had a larger inhabitable volume than any other
platform before or since, acrobatics and tumbling were common.

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height="2.154861111111111in"}
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height="2.1145833333333335in"}

Figure 2: Skylab astronauts enjoying their spacious surroundings

On the ISS, where space is more limited and daily exercise is required,
more sedentary pursuits are often enjoyed, ranging from reading or
playing cards to emails and photography. Some crewmembers write, others
play musical instruments or listen to favorite performers on CD players.
The computer has made recreation much easier, allowing crews to enjoy
music, games, books, or movies on a single device. Of course, the fact
that so many people enjoy electronic media improves the choices for the
crew -- they need not be limited to NASA-specific programs but can use
any of the hundreds of thousands of commercially available games, books,
recordings, or programs. Thanks to the internet, the crew could even,
should they choose, perform things like genealogical research in
conjunction with family tree software! This sort of recreational
activity was not a possibility for previous crews, who were much more
isolated and dependent upon themselves for entertainment.

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Figure 3: Astronaut and musician Carl Walz provides the music for an
impromptu "dance party" aboard the ISS

Another popular source of entertainment is the short wave radio. Many
space station crewmembers have enjoyed themselves by chatting with other
radio enthusiasts during their time on board. This not only provides a
diversion for the astronauts, but also allows them to widen their social
circle, which helps alleviate some of the isolated and confining nature
of the spaceflight environment.

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height="2.7083333333333335in"}

Figure 4: Astronaut Susan Helms talks to amateur radio operators on
Earth from the HAM radio workstation in the Zarya module of the ISS.

Generally speaking, crews have preferred movies, books, and email to
more competitive games, perhaps out of concerns that competitive
behaviors could, in such a small crew, lead to unpleasant interactions.
In future, however, virtual reality and other computer-based activities
may enable competitive endeavors against a computerized opponent. This
may allow the safe expression of competitive spirit, where there is no
risk to crew cohesiveness. In addition, the VR environment may
eventually mature to the point where crew members can use it to escape
from the confines of the spacecraft, perhaps through programs that allow
them to "travel" back to Earth.

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height="2.213888888888889in"}
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height="2.6527777777777777in"}

Figure 5: Crewmembers enjoying musical interludes on the ISS.

The short duration of Shuttle missions makes off-duty activities less of
a factor for those crews -- for many, especially the first time flyers
(including space tourists), just looking out the flight deck windows is
enough of a recreational activity!

[Types of Recreational Activities Available to Astronauts]{.underline}

Music DVD's\*

Reading Listening to music

Email Computer games

Written correspondence Social interaction\*

Exercise\* Visitors\*

Voice communication

\* = limited choices/availability

**Facilities, equipment, supplies, etc.**

One challenge to recreational physical activities during spaceflight is
the limited resources available to crew. On Earth, you can choose
between a run, a basketball game, or even an afternoon of sailing to
blow off steam. In space, exercise options are restricted to the
equipment that you took with you -- for example, a treadmill, cycle
ergometer, and "weightlifting" device are available on the ISS. (See
previous lesson on countermeasures.) This lack of physical sports can be
particularly challenging for astronauts who are generally an active,
athletic group.

Team sports are unavailable, generally speaking, because of the limited
crew size, and options for other sports (handball, basketball, cycling,
etc) cannot be accommodated by the current sized vehicles. So with both
types of activities and teammates rigidly constrained, physical
recreation is somewhat lacking in space, which can be problematic, given
the extremely athletic nature of many astronauts.

In terms of non-physical recreation, space offers a few more choices,
but limitations still remain. While it is easier to watch a football
game in space than to play one, communications are still generally
limited. Bandwidth and air/space communication opportunities are not
infinite. Rather, mission-specific objectives consume much of the
bandwidth, and communications are available with the ISS, for example,
only \~50% of the time. The ISS crew does have access to DVD's and other
stored media, but of course, only in limited supplies. Progress resupply
vehicles and Shuttles can bring up new ones, but they only visit the ISS
infrequently, and for exploration class missions, some other way to send
new entertainment to the crew will be needed.

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height="3.553472222222222in"}

Figure 6: Astronaut Jim Voss enjoys reading a hard copy of "The Last of
the Mohicans" while on the ISS' cycle ergometer.

Electronic books provide a new and promising method of allowing a wider
library than could be accomplished with (heavy) print books, though some
astronauts prefer the "real thing", rather than reading off a viewer.
Still, the relatively small size of book files, as well as the large
number that are in the public domain (see websites like
http://www.gutenberg.org), permits crews to have a fairly extensive
library on board with them. What is more, new selections can be
uplinked, rather than delivered, thus allowing precious room on resupply
flights to be used for other items.

Bandwidth also constrains communications to friends and family, but this
has improved steadily over the years. Astronauts on the ISS and Shuttle
now enjoy a video teleconference with their family every week, and they
also have email and even phone service, albeit somewhat intermittently.
Over the years, computers have assumed more critical roles in crew
recreation, and this has meant that enough computers need to be
available on board not only to accomplish mission objectives, but also
to allow crew members to read, correspond, watch DVD's, and other
recreational activities, without taking away computer time from critical
work.

To date, few astronauts have done crafts projects (painting, knitting,
woodworking, etc.) during flight. In part this may be due to the amount
of equipment required and the difficulty of manifesting it, as well as
to the difficulties inherent in some crafts for a closed loop
environment --needles flying off and impaling someone, paint odors
contaminating the life support system, etc. As mission duration
lengthens, and the likelihood of space colonies grows, activities such
as these may become more attractive to crewmembers as additional
diversions are sought. In some cases, electronic media may provide one
answer -- drawing with a computer program rather than with watercolors
or oil paints, for example. In other cases, the system may have to
adapt, with the design of more robust environmental systems that can
handle paint fumes or wood shavings!

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Figure 7: Astronaut-artist Alan Bean drew this image after returning
from his Apollo mission.

Finally, space itself is an issue. A spacecraft's habitable volume will
likely always be constrained, but when long-term (permanently manned?)
extraterrestrial bases are designed, whether for Moon base or Mars
colony, adequate space for recreation must be included. Terrestrial city
planners are aware of the importance of public areas, "pocket parks",
and green space in urban design; aerospace habitats should consider some
of these ideas.

![](media/image11.jpeg){width="3.875in" height="2.6013888888888888in"}

Figure 8: An artist's rendition of a Mars colony. Hydroponic crops can
double as green space through which residents can stroll.

On a slightly different note, the role of training and educational
activities as a means of recreation should also be examined, Many
accomplished, intelligent, and highly educated individuals enjoy
learning new things, and as such would consider "classes" as a pleasant
off-duty activity. On exploration missions, for example, the role of
computer-based training (both initial training of new tasks and
sustainment training of previously learned skills) may take on increased
importance. It is possible that some of these activities could serve a
recreational role -- for example, perhaps crews on a multi-year mission
to Mars could take academic classes in topics of their choice.
Participating in an online correspondence course in art history, for
example, might provide some crew members with a welcome diversion.
Similarly, it may be that scientists stationed on a Moon base would
appreciate having a laboratory facility in which they could perform
their own research experiments (in addition to those that are part of
the formal mission). These cases begin to blur the line between "work"
and "play", but they may be needed during extended duration missions.

One recurrent theme in space travel is a lack of privacy. Although
things have improved markedly since the early days of space travel, when
crew members were confined to a single small capsule, without so much as
a private toilet facility, conditions are still far from what is
considered normal in Western society. In this arena, Shuttle crews are
at more of a disadvantage than are ISS crews, due in large part to the
smaller volume of the Shuttle. The larger crew size and smaller
habitable volume force Shuttle crews to live in extremely close
quarters. By contrast, the larger ISS, with its 2 or 3 person crew,
affords significantly more privacy and "personal space". That said, the
tiny crew complement ensures that there are few secrets on board.

Another aspect of which a flight surgeon must remain constantly aware is
the "fishbowl"-like nature of life in space. Not only do members of the
ground support team follow the crew's every action with close attention,
but members of the world media do as well. Some crew members find it
very disconcerting to suddenly find themselves as much a public figure
as any Hollywood celebrity. It is important to realize that the issue of
"privacy" goes beyond the lack of private space to which a crewmember
can retreat to include the host of problems associated with life in the
public eye.

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height="2.0819444444444444in"}

Figure 9: Astronauts may not have to fight off the paparazzi to the same
extent as Angelina Jolie, but they are on public display, and that can
add to their stress.

The privacy of medical and research data can be a particularly sensitive
topic. The Privacy Act of 1974, as well as more recent legislation such
as HIPAA, guide what information can be considered in the public domain
and which cannot. It is important to realize, however, that not all
members of the mission support team are familiar with these concepts,
and data that may seem innocent to one team member may be regarded as
highly confidential to another. In the early days of the space program,
virtually all information about astronauts' behavior in space was openly
reported (up to and including who had bowel movements when). This is not
done today, but "sensitive" data can vary from person to person. One
crewmember, for example, made it clear that she had no concern if her
blood type or vital signs were made public, but threatened physical harm
to the clinician who revealed her body weight! Other astronauts have
different parameters that they consider "super-secret", and as flight
surgeons, we must do our best to respect their privacy, even as other
groups and researchers ask for certain medical data.[^1]

Another example involves images. Often a flight surgeon may ask the crew
to email a digital image to the ground for diagnostic purposes. These
images are medical data and should be treated as such, but if the images
are sent down with the rest of the crew's photography, the ground-based
personnel who receive them may not realize this and thus fail to handle
the photos in a secure fashion. One such case involved an astronaut who
was suffering from EVA boot fit issues and sent a picture of his feet
down to the flight surgeon. The image was not identified as a
confidential medical image and a non-clinical colleague doodled on the
picture in a humorous way and shared it with others.[^2] As it turned
out, the astronaut whose feet were thus revealed was completely
unoffended by the joke and took it in the friendly spirit in which it
was intended. However, this was a warning to the medical team that
greater vigilance was required to ensure that medical information is
clearly identified as such and should be handled separately in order to
safeguard the crew's privacy.

**Rest requirements**

The U.S. military, particularly the Air Force, has performed numerous
studies investigating human performance over lengthy periods. It is well
established that complex task performance decreases after a certain
period of persistent work, and that cumulative fatigue as well as
boredom plays a causative role in the deterioration. In one study
looking at a 30 hour extended task model, significant "perceptual
aberrations" were noted by the subjects who were in a flight simulator,
including hallucinations. Although drugs such as Dexedrine and caffeine
can temporarily improve performance, the effect rapidly wanes, often to
a level below that originally noted. By contrast, a period of restful
sleep restores subjects to their original level of performance --
demonstrating the value of healthy sleep/wake cycles. In the space
environment, the importance of rest was brought home by the 1997
Progress/Mir collision, in which crew fatigue was cited as a causative
factor.

As a result, NASA and the international space medical community have
developed rules governing crew rest. In many ways they are similar to
terrestrial aviation rules, which seek to ensure that flight crews are
well rested before piloting an aircraft. In the same way, NASA flight
surgeons attempt to prevent fatigued crews from performing dangerous
tasks[^3] by limiting sleep shifting immediately beforehand. Although
the lack of normal circadian cues in space make it more challenging to
determine when crews are at their best (or worst), it is clear that
crews require a few days to adjust to a new schedule before they are
functioning at peak performance.

Astronaut Gerald Carr pointed out that "a guy needs some quiet time just
to unwind if we're going to keep him healthy and alert up here." As a
result, current NASA schedules try to follow an 8-8-8 template (8 hours
of work, 8 hours of recreation, 8 hours of sleep), although shorter
duration missions and specific phases of longer duration flights may use
a 12-4-8 schedule.

Sleeping in microgravity can be much easier than in a terrestrial
environment, as there is no need for a specific bed. On the Shuttle, in
particular, people tend to sleep wherever they want, on the flight deck
or middeck.[^4] On the ISS, two crew quarters are built into the Service
Module. When a third crewmember is present, he or she has usually slept
in the US Lab in a (somewhat jury rigged) sleep station. "Sleep sacks"
are sometimes used -- these are sleeping bags that allow crews to tether
themselves to a specific location.

![](media/image13.jpeg){width="3.5in" height="2.8in"}

Figure 10: Crewmember asleep in a sleep sack in a sleep station aboard
the Shuttle.

PERSONAL RECREATION AND OFF-DUTY ACTIVITIES

**References and Suggested Readings**

1\) DeHart, RL and Davis, JR. (Eds.). (2002). [Fundamentals of Aerospace
Medicine, 3^rd^ Edition.]{.underline} Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams
& Wilkins.

2\) Kneir G. (2001). "Housecleaning in Space",
http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/News/2001/News-Housekeeping.asp

3\) Clement, G. (2003). [Fundamentals of Space Medicine. Space
Technology Library.]{.underline} El Segundo: Microcosm Press.

4\) Harding, R. (1989). [Survival in Space.]{.underline} London:
Routlege.

Office.

5\) Stine GH. (1997). [Living in Space: A Handbook for Work and
Exploration Stations Beyond the Earth's Atmosphere.]{.underline} New
York: M. Evans and Company.

6\) Ball, JR and Evans, CH. (Eds.). (2001). [Safe Passage: Astronaut
Care for Exploration Missions.]{.underline} Washington DC: Institute of
Medicine National Academy Press.

7\) "Structural Design for Space Settlements",
http://marsoweb.arc.nasa.gov/About/Education/SpaceSettlement/Contest/Results/96/winner/tres.html

8\) "Astronauts Need to Have Fun Too",
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/home/F_Astronauts_Need_Fun.html

9\) "Living There!"
http://aerospacescholars.jsc.nasa.gov/HAS/media/2001/week1/longwhitepp.ppt#267,11,Slide
11

10\) Larson WJ and Pranke LK (Eds.). (1999). [Human Spaceflight: Mission
Analysis and Design.]{.underline} New York: McGraw Hill.

[^1]: For example, it is not unreasonable for a researcher who collected
    physiological data early in the flight to ask about whether a crew
    member suffered from space motion sickness, as this could influence
    their results. However, if the crewmember has not agreed to release
    this information, doing so could be viewed as a breach of
    confidentiality.

[^2]: Specifically, bright toenails were painted on the feet, along with
    flowers and silly jokes.

[^3]: Examples of these activities would include: piloting the Soyuz to
    a new docking site, use of the robotic arm, or EVA activities.

[^4]: An exception to this is made during dual shift crews, when the
    crew is split into two teams, one of which is awake and working at
    any given time. In this case, in order to avoid interfering in the
    awake team's work, "sleep stations" are used. These are small boxes,
    about the size of a telephone booth, with sliding doors behind which
    off-duty crewmembers can sleep.