A psychologist, anthropologist, and astronaut walk into a conference room…

A few months ago I had an incredible opportunity to join the Buzz Aldrin Space Institute (BASI) and an interdisciplinary team of social scientists to discuss the future of human-centered research in regards to deep space exploration. Human space travel has become a hot topic once again, but this time it’s beyond orbits around the earth, trips to the International Space Station (ISS), or even lunar surface landings. This time our eyes are set on the fourth rock from the sun…Mars.

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This two-day workshop held at NASA in Titusville, FL hosted over 40 attendees from various educational backgrounds within the social sciences. The goal of this workshop was to identify the challenges in terms of psychological, sociological, and physiological factors that would pose as barriers to successful mission execution. Taking on this magnificent feat undoubtedly raises a tremendous amount of questions and the outcome of this workshop resulted in the blueprints of a research plan to direct efforts in support of this endeavor. It was an honor to be welcomed to the workshop and become a part of this superlative team.

Buzz Aldrin & Julian Abich

The icing on the cake was meeting the legendary Buzz Aldrin. For those of you who do not know, he was the Lunar Module Pilot on the Apollo 11 and was one of the first two humans to step foot on the earth’s moon. Whom better to work with than someone who helped pioneer human space exploration? I started a conversation with him because I noticed that we both were wearing paracord bracelets, which led us to talk about scuba diving and lone survival (hopefully those two events don’t ever coincide), and eventually full circle to space exploration. He shared the general concept of his vision for the mission. It seems he has thought about every aspect and has taken into account everything from public relations all the way to the colonization of Mars. I was being showered with a whirlwind of innovative ideas to the point that I was reaching a level of cognitive overload trying to process the wealth of knowledge bestowed upon me. Buzz is a brilliant man.
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Julian Abich & Wendy Lawrence

After the meeting, there was time left in the second day to wander around Kennedy Space Center’s Visitor Complex. I hadn't been there in a very long time, so I took this chance to explore the compound. As I was walking along I stumbled across a sign pointing to a location for a meet and greet with an astronaut, which caught my interest, so I stepped inside with the intention of only staying for a brief moment. This is when I started to realize the enormity and allure of what we had just talked about. Wendy Lawrence was the featured speaker, and from the moment she spoke I was captivated by what she was saying because it was all in line with everything we discussed at the workshop and validated the approach we were taking. It's as if the workshop was a designer of a coloring book, drawing the lines that when connected made various figures and Wendy was filling in those lines with color to create this beautiful masterpiece in my mind. She talked about her experience with the astronaut selection process, the research they conducted while on the ISS, and how they mitigated issues like boredom. Everything she said reinforced the topics of conversations held at the workshop. Because of this, I believe I had a truly unique experience. An experience that would take hold of me and launch me into space exploration research...pun intended.

If you were chosen to travel to Mars, what challenges do you foresee with long-distance space flights or colonizing a new planet?

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