Being the class clown may have earned you flak from your teacher. In fact, they may even have said, ‘you’ll never make it in a serious profession’. But NASA thinks otherwise. And it doesn’t get any better than NASA does it?
Recent research shows candidates with a great sense of humour may be best suited for humanity’s first mission to Mars! Neil Armstrong may be turning in his grave, but researchers believe that stressful missions necessitate some comic respite.
An anthropologist at the University of Florida has stated that crew members who have a funny bone can build better social bridges and keep the team pulling together. Jeffrey Johnson is studying the importance of humour during extensive spaceflights in NASA.
In an interview with The Guardian, he shared, “These are people that have the ability to pull everyone together, bridge gaps when tensions appear and really boost morale.
“When you’re living with others in a confined space for a long period of time, such as on a mission to Mars, tensions are likely to fray,” he added.
Laughter is Mission Critical!
Johnson previously has experience studying yet another isolated group (long term workers in Antarctica). He found that self-appointed clowns and practical jokers were crucial to forging bonds under tense conditions.
“These roles are informal, they emerge within the group. But the interesting thing is that if you have the right combination the group does very well. And if you don’t, the group does very badly,” he explained.
“It’s vital you have somebody who can help everyone get along, so they can do their jobs and get there and back safely. It’s mission critical,” Johnson clarified.
The much awaited mission to Mars could have lengthy communication delays (think 20 minutes). So some comic relief on the 8 month trip could bring back the astronauts healthier and happier!
What say? Are you up for a mission to Mars, chuckles?