The journey out and in: psychiatry and space exploration

Although psychiatric issues have in theory always been considered important in space biomedical research, specific research into these issues has been severely limited because of other priorities that were more pertinent to the technological development of space flight capacity. As the technical and physical aspects of space flight become more routine, the psychological issues should take on increasing importance. The author reviews the U.S. and U.S.S.R. research in aerospace medicine that is relevant to psychiatry and suggests ways to expand psychiatry's clinical and research usefulness in future space exploration efforts.