Do you think spaceflight can take a toll on astronauts? Based on a recent study, being in space can be pretty stressful no matter how long astronauts are away from the Earth.

Anxiety and stress influence everybody. It can affect a person's ability to perform physical tasks, affect mood, sleep and concentration. And astronauts are no exceptions despite being away from the planet.

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Astronauts, too, face unique stresses when they are isolated for long periods of time while conducting critical jobs under tight deadlines. Just to name a few, they are exposed to microgravity, radiation, unusual light-dark cycles, higher levels of carbon dioxide, nutritional changes and constant noise.

As part of NASA's One-Year Mission (1YM), which aims to learn how the human body responds to stress in a long-duration and low-gravity environment, several Human Research Program probes have been conducted aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

During the 1YM, Phys.org revealed five Behavioral Health investigations were conducted to further learn and understand the brain's activity once it is exposed to stress and fatigue in outer space.

Since NASA prepares for future missions to asteroids, Mars, and other celestial bodies, the space agency deemed it vital to fully understand these stresses and how space crewmembers respond to them. And through the investigation, researchers hope they can reduce the negative impact that stress can cause to astronauts, American Live Wire noted.

"Just being an astronaut is pretty stressful, because of the constant need to be able to perform at your highest possible potential," NASA's Johnson Space Center's International Science in Human Research Program Associate Manager John Charles said. "You're going to be doing high-priority, high-visibility tasks with experts on the ground watching your every move and critiquing you while you don't feel very well, especially in the first few days or even weeks of spaceflight."

Over the course of the ongoing one-year mission, two spaceflyers — NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko — are undergoing five behavioral health investigations to examine cognitive performance, sleep, brain structure, emotion and fatigue. According to Yahoo! News, the set of investigations, which started in March, centers specifically on the cognitive and psychological effects of long durations in space as well as the attendant isolation, fatigue, altered light-dark cycles and microgravity.

Moreover, the investigation analyzes the astronauts' diary entries to gather data on how they adjust emotionally and psychologically to their spaceflight environment. This study converts behavioral and human factors information from journal entries into quantitative data. Space.com reported information from this data gives insights to the procedural schemes, habitats and equipment that can help humans adjust to isolation and confinement while ensuring their efficiency and productivity.

During the one-year mission, NASA officials said the behavioral and health data gathered aim to aid doctors, scientists, and mission planners prepare for manned flights to distant destinations such as Mars. And the information could also have practical applications here on Earth since the more experts learn about the brain and how people get along in extreme environments, the better humans are all going to be in getting along with each other here on the planet.

TagsSpace Stress, astronauts, NASA, outer space, Stress, Study, Science