Next ISS Crew Incompatible

RobertB-DC writes "The International Space Station's replacement crew is being pulled for the B-Team. While the Reuters story quotes officials talking about "certain considerations", a Moscow Times article lays it on the line: '"Incompatible" ISS Crew Ditched' due to 'a psychological incompatibility.' The Russian-American team had already been shaken up once, when the original American member dropped out due to illness. Now, they're being replaced with a whole new pair."

Comments

oh, with *each other*

[real_smiff]

heh, when i read the title i thought they meant incompatible with the space station. like the american crew are too fat and wouldn't fit in the hatches or something. yeah, they'd definately want to consider that..

Two-Person Crews are a Problem

[kalidasa]

The dynamics of a two-person crew are harder to manage than those of the three-person crew. If the two have a bad argument, there's no third party to mediate, and you end up with each one calling Earth looking for someone to back him up. In the end, both end up feeling isolated. With a three-person crew, there's someone to mediate and serve as a safety valve - even if two of the crew members aren't speaking to each other, there's a third person there they can talk to.

Re:Two-Person Crews are a Problem

[eraserewind]

The dynamics of a two-person crew are harder to manage than those of the three-person crew.

I have no idea whether you are correct or not (but I'm going to comment anyway).

Anyway, I just thought it was odd that you state a 3 person team has easier to manage dynamics than a 2 person team. In any courses on team building that I have done the instructors have always said that 3 is the absolute worst number to have because in a dispute there is a likelyhood that one person will always feel that they are being picked on or being ganged up on just because that's the way the numbers divide up when you have 3 people. If it happens more than once then the individual can feel very isolated very quickly and you can have a potentially explosive situation.

At least with only 2 people there is no chance of one person feeling that "everyone" is out to get them, and they are more likely to somply feel that the other one is just being a jerk.

Or so they said. ;-)

Re:Two-Person Crews are a Problem

[babbage]

As they say, "two's company, three's a crowd."

I think I'm on your side here -- groups of three are very unstable.

The Romans tried to have three-man leadership for a while with their triumvirates, and it worked so spectacularly well that the Republic collapsed and the Empire emerged, largely because they kept ending up with too many power plays and too much backstabbing (sometimes literally). Significantly, I'm not aware of any other country or major organization (companies, NGOs, etc) that have made a serious go at tri-partite leadership ever since.

I'm not aware of any psychological studies on this either way, but I think that what the Romans saw with political leadership would just be a particular example of a more general human social dynamic. The "three's a crowd" expression is usually thought of in terms of intimate relationships, but anyone that has lived with a pair of roommates, like for example in college dorms, has probably either experienced or at least witnessed the same thing, with old friends ready to kill each other over petty things, etc.

So. Anecdotes presented, assertions made. We're right. The grandparent poster is wrong. QED. :-)

Re:Two-Person Crews are a Problem

[Red Rocket]

Significantly, I'm not aware of any other country or major organization (companies, NGOs, etc) that have made a serious go at tri-partite leadership ever since.

What about the US?
Legislative / Judicial / Executive
I'm with you on the "unstable" part, though. :)

Incompatibility in space

[hcg50a]

From the article:

"It's not that the crew was unprofessional or ill, but on certain considerations it was not ready," the spokesman said.

"The crew members should understand each other's words and opinions...they should get on like good friends."

Well, it just shows how difficult any Mars trip is going to be, with the astronauts having to be in close quarters for 2-3 years, rather than simply 6 months.

Also, if incompatibilities develop during the flight, they will obviously have to be dealt with, rather than just getting a replacement.

Re:Incompatibility in space

[fuzzybunny]

Well, it just shows how difficult any Mars trip is going to be, with the astronauts having to be in close quarters for 2-3 years, rather than simply 6 months.

No, not really a problem--I volunteer for this one. I'm happy with any sort of team (under my command, of course) as long as it's a bunch of brainy gorgeous nymphomaniacs. Oh, and don't forget the correct choice of uniforms for my crew.

...they will obviously have to be dealt with...

That's what the airlocks are for.

This just in

[SLot]

Associated Press, Feb 06 2004

Moscow - The Soviet Space Program has traced the problem back to the popular American geek website slashdot.org. Apparently, the American astronaut, Leroy Chiao, was a regular reader of slashdot, and finally snapped when every time he gave a command to the cosmonaut, Valery Tokarev, replied "In Soviet Russia.."

Mr. T

[haydenth]

"The International Space Station's replacement crew is being pulled for the B-Team." Where's the A-team? Is the B-team like the A-team but with Gary Coleman instead of Mr.T???

A Perspective

[da' WINS pimp]

Having just spent 15 days in a tin can with what were on day one six complete strangers. I think I can offer an interesting insight.

Interpersonal dynamics are a very important part of any endeavor - especially in space where your life can literally depend on your crewmate/crewmates. In our instance we had six people. Four of which became fast friends, and one who the other four will probably never speak with again. It is a good thing in this instance that the crew coordinators of the ISS realized this was a problem and stepped in.

In our case we had one person running around breaking stuff and four people scrambling to fix it while simultaneously trying to get our own projects off the ground. Had we actually been on Mars, someone could have taken the long walk in 100th of an atmosphere. As it turned out we just ignored him until we were done and everything worked out. It's a good thing that in space no one can hear you scream. Had it been just the two of us nothing would have gotten done and someone may have died even on Earth.

For those actually interested in this kind of thing, I suggest getting involved with the Mars Society. We do privately funded research into what it will take to live and work on Mars. It will really open your eyes.

You can't boil relationships down to a formula.

[hey!]

I don't think there is a perfectly general rule.

Looking at my children, three boys are usually rowdy fun on play dates but three girls are often a disaster (one gets frozen out). But there are so many exceptions we can't treat it as a tried-and-true formula. Sometimes we have three girls who play nicely together, and you may have a shy boy who gets overwhelmed by the other two.

Judging the right number of people probably can't be done in ignorance of the kinds of personalities they have, and certainly not in ignorance of the kind of work they will be doing and how they will be living.

An furthermore, occasional conflict is not necessarily bad. There are people I routinely have hammer-and-tongs arguments with that an outsider walking by would find disturbing. But we're actually close friends and the fact we can show anger with each other is a sign of mutual trust and respect. I know I can convince him to see his error, and he feels the same way about me. These arguments are highly productive and even creative. On the other hand, there are people I have very polite relationships with because there is not that much mutual respect and we don't waste our energy working things out. These relationships are much worse because not only do disagreements get drawn out, or resolved by seniority rather than reason, you also have to watch your back for nasty surprises.