Space Transport and Fatigue

Abstract

Space travel presents numerous challenges to fatigue management. Fatigue in space results from many of the same challenges that shiftworkers face on Earth, including inadequate sleep, circadian misalignment, and elevated workload. However, spaceflight also presents unique challenges including circadian misalignment due to non-24- hour light-dark cycles, erratic work schedules due to operational constraints, a microgravity sleep environment, constraints to habitat design, and an isolated and confined living environment. These challenges can be mitigated with fatigue management strategies and countermeasures specifically targeted for space travel. Those strategies can include light interventions, advanced scheduling tools, improved habitat design, and pharmacological countermeasures. What is needed is a future-facing approach to most effectively manage the challenges that may arise as advancements in space travel continue to develop at a rapid pace.