Computer models point to crew diversity as key to resilient Mars missions
by Clarence Oxford
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Oct 09, 2025
Simulation results from Stevens Institute of Technology researchers Iser Pena and Hao Chen indicate that who you send to Mars matters as much as what you send. Published October 8, 2025 in PLOS One, the study used agent-based modeling to probe how personality mix and team roles shape stress, health, performance, and cohesion over a simulated 500-day mission.
The model linked individual differences across the Big Five traits to mission roles such as engineer, medic, and pilot, then tracked emergent team outcomes under isolation and workload. Heterogeneous crews generally outperformed homogeneous ones, with combinations like high conscientiousness paired with low neuroticism, or high extraversion alongside high agreeableness, associated with lower stress and stronger cohesion and performance.
The authors emphasize constraints, including the assumption that traits remain fixed, but argue the findings can guide astronaut selection by integrating personality assessments with skills to build complementary teams. They add that NASA’s Artemis era and concrete Mars planning heighten the need for predictive tools that capture human factors under realistic conditions.
The team concludes with two statements: “For the first time, we’ve combined psychological insights with a computer simulation to model a 500-day mission to Mars.” “This new approach lets us explore how different astronaut personalities and team roles might affect a crew’s stress and performance, and it gives us a glimpse of the human challenges astronauts could face on these long journeys into deep space.”
Research Report:Exploring team dynamics and performance in extended space missions using agent-based modeling
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