After you read the NASA case (you did it a couple of days ago) reply to the following 3 statements
below.
Focus on expanding on or clarify an important point, offering an additional argument to support a position
taken in an answer, identify areas where you think the writer misunderstood a concept or applied it
incorrectly, or disagreeing with a point or position made in an answer.
Statement1:
This case is based around a NASA’s astronauts anticipated round trip to Mars, which is projected to take
roughly 2 years if successful. NASA is concerned with creating highly effective, collaborative teams that
can troubleshoot themselves out of any problem. They are also investigating the role leadership plays in
these extremely dynamic groups. These astronauts will be spending 2-3 years with the same group of
people, in a confined space, and under high stress situations. The researchers understand that these
pioneers will not see their family, friends, or the beauty of Earth for an unprecedented length of time. It is
key for these people to work well together, as their life depends on it. NASA will need to take a unique
approach to ensure team cohesion, teamwork, and performance.
These astronauts must be experts at overcoming obstacles while in space. To succeed, they will need to,
individually and as a team, have clear goals, clear directions, and high motivation. Their sole
communication channel back to Houston has a 20-minute lag, so they must be equipped with problem
solving skills. The team members should be excellent communicators to best resolve issues that may arise
(on a spaceship, I imagine the ability to solve these problems could be vital). Selecting the right crew for
this mission will be one of the most important decisions if they want to be successful. The researchers
quote, “mission success is contingent upon selecting the right team members who can not only perform
their respective mission roles effectively but also work well together.” NASA will need to identify an indepth analysis of the astronauts strengths, weaknesses, experiences, knowledge, and more in their
selection process.
The researchers in this case inform us that “team composition, teamwork and team dynamics, individual
and team self-regulation, and team adaptation and development are challenging to study in these
environments, so new ways of studying these teams are of paramount urgency.” The researchers are
studying some similar environments as this mission, such as scientists in Antarctica or under the ocean in
a submarine, but because this mission to Mars is so unique, they will need to create their own benchmark
data because something of this magnitude has never been done before.
Statement2:
NASA has been actively working with researchers to organize and arrange human exploration of Mars in
the next decades. The book defines conflict as, “a felt struggle between two or more individuals over
perceived incompatible differences in beliefs, values, and goals, or over differences in desires for esteem,
control, and connectedness”. Flight crew members and ground control members are required to
communicate effectively, coordinate well with each other, and be able to function in long periods of
confinement. Team cohesion is ultimately the way to be successful at space exploration. In this case,
picking the more qualified person to do specific jobs will not ensure that you have chosen the most
efficient team. The article states that, “researchers have begun to emphasize that team composition should
be considered as a foundational context for understanding how a team is likely to work together, even
when membership is unchangeable”. A collaboration conflict style is important to have because it requires
team members to have assertiveness and cooperation. Since isolation and delayed communications are
factors team members will have to be able to correct and improve their own behavior and decisions.
LDSE crews members are also required to have the strength to overcome chronic and acute stressors that
may arise. I believe NASA is making great strides towards preparing for future space missions by
implementing team development interventions, exploring team effectiveness, and by using analog
environments. However, NASA ultimately still needs to identify how to hypothesize and quantify team
cohesiveness in a way that is comprehendible and summarizes the stages over a time.
Statement3:
• Analysis
The space exploration team faced a number of challenges during their exploration of Mars. This
exploration helped to reveal information about the geology, atmosphere and potential life on Mars. The
mission to Mars required a team of crew members who were tasked with living and working in a small
environment with five others over the period of a year. The space team is tasked with conducting
scientific experiments, performing rigorous tasks as well as exploring locations that could potentially be
life threatening. Additionally, they faced communication delays which interfered with feedback needed
from headquarters. In conducting an analysis, I perceived the exploration of Mars to be difficult for the
space team, as I can imagine that what they were tasked with was complex, as well as having to live and
work in a stressful environment without the option of being able to go home at the end of the day.
• Evaluate
The space exploration team had a work environment that was like no other. Over a long period of time,
they did not have the opportunity to get away from work or their coworkers, as they worked and lived in a
confined space. The space team worked in a high-stress environment which significantly impacted their
team cohesion, teamwork, as well as their performance. Considering the extreme working conditions of
the space team, teamwork, team dynamics, and adaptation are all things that were very important for the
team.
• Synthesis
I believe that there are a number of things that the space team could do to develop a system which would
help them achieve the tasks required for their exploration. For the trip to be successful the space team
must work to develop team effectiveness, as well as develop a better understanding of teamwork effort.
The team must find ways to manage stress in a highly stressful environment, that they do not have the
opportunity to get away from, which is something that can be difficult. In order to achieve success during
this exploration, it is important that goals are identified and each individual within the team, take
accountability and work to learn their team members so that they are able to learn to work with each
other.
