The evolution and present status of mental health standards for selection of USAF candidates for space missions

The mental health evaluation of the original Mercury astronauts was a prolonged, meticulous, research-oriented process involving testing and interviews to determine who was best qualified for space flight. The trend since then has been to simplify this evaluation, making it more subjective and clinically oriented. The goal is to identify candidates who are fully qualified, free of psychopathology, and who have a healthy motivation for space flight. The selection of nonpilots for duty as payload specialists introduces new factors--lack of previous exposure to dangerous situations, possible impact of new stresses on the family situation, and interrelationships between crew members. These factors can be included in determinations of individual candidates as being "fully qualified," rather than returning to the original "best qualified" standards, and affirmative qualities may be identified which mark candidates as "exceptionally well qualified." Validation of these evaluation procedures and criteria depends upon assessment of space crew members' performance on actual mission.