Reaching for the Stars
The Artemis II astronauts landed safely back on earth last week after becoming the first humans to travel to the far side of the Moon. The world was captivated by the mission, which is a key step in plans to eventually build a permanent base on the Earth’s satellite.
Psychologist and astronaut training expert Susan Charlesworth – a keynote speaker at Ergonomics & Human Factors 2025 – has followed the adventure in a series of articles on her How to Train an Astronaut website. She’s also explored the wider challenges of human performance and information processing in space.
In a series of three articles, she examines how being in space affects cognitive capabilities, including dealing with high mental workload. She also looks at how understanding this can help to improve space operations and meet future challenges.
Susan, who worked as a Human Behaviour and Performance Specialist at the European Space Agency, says: “Space operations represent one of humanity’s most complex endeavours, where the margin for error is vanishingly small and the consequences of failure can be catastrophic. At the heart of successful space operations lies a critical element: human cognitive performance.”
