This Directed Acyclic Graph and write-up is an excerpt from a 

larger NASA document. 

NASA/TP-20220015709

Directed Acyclic Graphs: A Tool for Understanding the NASA 

Spaceflight Human System Risks

Human System Risk Board

October 2022
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Risk of Performance and Behavioral Health Decrements Due to Inadequate Cooperation, 

Coordination, Communication, and Psychosocial Adaptation within a Team (Team Risk)
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Team Risk DAG Narrative

• Isolation and Confinement affects Interpersonal Relationships directly and through monotony, 

boredom, and other possible Behavioral affects that are represented in the Behavioral (Risk).

• Distance from Earth affects the mass and volume allocations that limit Vehicle Design decisions. 

It also affects Communications Delays, influences Effective Mission Duration, and affects Crew 

Size.

• The central issue in the Team Risk is that Team Cohesion, Team Skills, and Team Cognition

come together to influence Team Functionality, and ultimately, Crew Capability. Ground 

Support, which will be heavily impacted by communication delays, is an important part of the 

spaceflight multi-team system. The Team Risk operates downstream of many other Risks, and at a 

higher level than the individual, but is heavily influenced by the individuals and individual-level 

Risks in the system.

─ Duration is related to distance, but not always, and it has implications for the (likely 

decremented) team functioning over time.

─ Crew Size is another potential stressor that is more loosely tied to the 5 Hazards, but has 

implications for the knowledge, skills and abilities, relationships, and simply # of personhours, hands available onboard.

• Team Functionality is the degree of coordination, cooperation, communication, and psychosocial 

adaptation that enables a team to successfully complete tasks and live and work as a team. It is 

affected by:

─ Team Cognition is shared understanding among team members that is related to roles and 

responsibilities, team mission objectives and norms, and familiarity with team members’

knowledge, skills and abilities. Team Cognition is supported by many factors related to 

Team Composition and Interpersonal Relationships, the team Training together, 

engaging in Team Skills and Social Support, Countermeasures (e.g., debriefs), and 

Individual Readiness and Factors (i.e., individual cognition). Ground Support is an 

important part of Team Cognition across the multi-team system.

─ Team Skills consist of information sharing, backup behaviors, leadership/followership, team 

care, and providing social support, among others. Team Skills are developed through training 

and supported by Countermeasures such debriefs and psychological support tools and 

experts. Team Skills support Individual Readiness to function on a team, offer social 

support, create and maintain shared Team Cognition.

─ Team Cohesion is tendency for a group to operate in a unified fashion while working towards 

a goal or to satisfy the emotional needs of its members. It is affected by Interpersonal 

Relationships that develop through shared values and complementary personalities (Team 

Composition) and Social Support during shared experiences.

• Crew Capability is the readiness of the entire crew to perform required tasks including the 

functional capacity as well as knowledge, skills and abilities, at both an individual and team level. 

Inadequate Task Performance during critical team tasks (e.g., EVAs for repairs or surface ops) 

can lead to Loss of Vehicle or Loss of Mission Objectives or Loss of Crew Life. This is 

affected by:

─ Team Functionality as represented above.
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─ Crew Size effects the pool of available knowledge/skills/abilities and person-hours onboard, 

as well as Interpersonal Relationships via Team Composition.

─ Individual Readiness is affected by several other risks, and it affects the crew capability in a 

similar fashion to crew size.

─ Communication Delays also negatively influence the real-time Crew Capability, particularly 

in time pressure situations (e.g., emergency response), by restricting timely troubleshooting 

by and coordination with Ground Support.

• Countermeasures and other factors influence the level of Team Cohesion, Team Skills, 

and Team Cognition. These include:

─ Training performed before and during a mission. This includes both technical and team skills 

training /behavioral health training. Technical training is dependent on Vehicle Design and 

the design of Vehicle Systems and the Crew Health and Performance System and can

affect the Individual Readiness and shared understanding (Team Cognition) of these 

vehicle systems. Team Training affects each Individual’s Readiness to work and live as a 

team, affect Interpersonal Relationships as they train together, and affect shared 

understanding (Team Cognition) of team norms.

─ Astronaut Selection creates a pool of well-qualified, highly skilled, team-oriented 

individuals (Individual Factors). A physically and psychological fit individual (Acoustics, 

Medical, Sleep, CO2, Food and Nutrition (Risks), Behavioral (Risk)), combined with Team 

Skills enhanced through Team Training, results in Individual Readiness.

─ Team Composition is influenced by a given DRM’s Distance from Earth and Crew Size, 

and by the mission objectives, and the Individual’s Readiness to meet those 

objectives. Team Composition is an ongoing consideration as different tasks occur 

throughout the mission, and it does not end when the crew is assigned.

o The risk introduced by Private Astronaut Missions and space tourists is an unknown 

and may severely disruptive the entire system. Private Astronaut Missions (PAMs) will not 

have the same level of strategic Selection, Composition, Training, or Countermeasure 

support as the professional astronauts and will affect Team Composition.

─ The HSIA (Risk) influences Vehicle Design and systems (Crew Health and Performance 

System, Environmental Control), affecting the Net Habitable Volume and the availability 

of Privacy/Team Space. Both Privacy and shared Team Space (e.g., a dining/worktable) 

influences Interpersonal Relationships.

─ Interpersonal Relationships are affected by the mix of individuals on the mission (Team 

Composition, Behavioral Risk), the Team Training experienced together the Team Skills

they use to support the relationships. Interpersonal Relationships particularly during longer

Effective Mission Durations are a strong predictor of Team Cohesion, and how the team 

provides work and non-work supportive behaviors to coordinate and cooperate (Social 

Support, Team Cognition.

─ Communication Delays restrict the degree of Social Support provided by Family 

Effects, Ground Support, and psychological support (BHP Countermeasures) from experts 

on Earth. Team Monitoring allows experts, team members, or autonomous systems to 

prompt the team to engage in team-supportive countermeasures (e.g., debriefs), but these 

may be restricted due to Communication Delays.