NASA is initiating a review to determinewhether changes are required to how astronauts are psychologically analyzed throughouttheir careers, space agency officials announced Wednesday.
A separatereview will also assess whether changes are needed to existing psychologicalscreening procedures for new astronauts.
The reviewswere prompted by the arrest of current NASAastronaut Lisa Nowak earlier this week on charges of the attempted murderof a romantic rival for the affections another astronaut.
The reviewswill address whether “any modifications would be advisable to ensure thatour astronauts have the level of psychological and medical care and attentionthey need,” said NASA Deputy Administrator Shana Dale.
The reviews,Dale said, will address the questions of:
- When should astronauts be required to undergo psychological screening?
- What manner and how often during an astronauts career should they be evaluated?
- Were there any indications from Nowak’s interaction with astronauts and NASA employees that might have suggested something was wrong prior to Monday’s arrest?
The reviewwill involve medical officers outside of NASA and will draw partly upon theresults of a study that has been ongoing for 20 years within the agency thattrack the health of both active duty and retired astronauts, said RichardWilliams, NASA chief medical officer at the space agency’s Washington,D.C. headquarters.
“Allaspects of medical care and behavioral health care, including potential longterm effect of spaceflight, will be of interest and will be addressed by thereview group,” Williams said.
Bob Cabana,deputy director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, saidpsychological support is currently available to all astronauts and NASAemployees and dismissed suggestions that astronauts avoid seeking help becauseit might negatively impact their careers.
“Weknow if somebody needs help, there are services available and there’s nostigma to it,” Cabana said. “It doesn’t prevent anybody fromfuture space flight assignments or anything else.”
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