When we colonize Mars, we need to contend with isolation. They will be alone with their fellow crew members for months or even years at a time. If a person ends up alone on the Red Planet, it will get worse.
A recent long term isolation experiment on a Mars base found that participants get distant and rebel as time goes on.
A study was conducted by Project SIRIUS, an off-world settlement test facility in Russia, that looked at 17 isolation experiments it conducted over a two year period. The study participants grew more and more self-sufficient as time went on, resulting in limited communication with mission control.
The crews in simulations reduced their communication with the mission control during the isolation, sharing their needs and problems less and less, with rare exceptions such as important mission events, like landing simulation.
There are a number of reasons researchers are worried about the findings.
Shved said that the less the crew communicate with mission control, the less they can understand any issues that might arise.
The concern is that the astronauts could grow so independent that they would no longer be beholden to the governing bodies on Earth. It is kind of cool that researchers are worried about an astronauts revolution on Mars.
There are some positives to a more self-sufficient crew. As you get better at your job, you need less and less help from your managers, as you become more competent.
A colony with capable and independent astronauts could mean they will be able to address any issues that arise. It could mean stronger collaboration between crew members.
It is probably better to communicate with mission control in the early days of space colonization. Maybe later we can worry about a Martian revolution.
The crew may revolt without strong interplanetary communication.
People are pretending to have a Mars base for social media.
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