OUR MISSON
THE PROBLEM
Being lonely increases the risk of suicide for astronauts. Their job performance would also decrease with the more time they are alone. Loneliness decreases the quality of sleep. If you are lonely too long, you could develop depression. Astronauts in space are known to experience hallucinations. Astronauts tend to talk to a robot or some item to keep them company. Loneliness is also known to quicken progression of Alzheimer's disease.
WORDS FROM ASTRONAUTS
The middle of the mission is the most difficult because the initial excitement of arriving in space has worn off, but the excitement of returning home to family, friends, and the accustomed life on Earth is still out of sight. Everyone deals with their feelings of homesickness in different ways.” - Mike Gernhardt
“The isolation is real, I mean you’re separated from your family and friends and kind of control of your life for the 197 days we’ll be up here. That being said, we believe why we’re here is important, and so when you’re doing something you believe in and doing something that’s important, the challenges kinda seem inconsequential, as long as you can reach your goal. I think about pre-service teachers, that’s kinda the message I’d like to share with them. If they believe the work they’re doing is important, there’s gonna be challenges. Keep plugging ahead until you reach your goal.” - Ricky Arnold
“We have a few toys up on the ISS. In fact, I think we’re the first crew to ever play a tennis match on the ISS or in space. My buddy, Drew, brought up some miniature tennis rackets. He only had two of them, and we played doubles, so two of us had to use ping pong paddles for tennis. And the fun thing about it was we decided early on that you could hit the ball on either side of the net, since there’s really no up or down up here. So as long as the ball went past the net, you were good to go.” - Ricky Arnold
OUR SOLUTION
SpaceBook helps astronauts with loneliness by letting them contact their family and friends in a social media like manner.