A Bloody Nose, Sexual Harassment and a Deserter (after only 110 days) - Part 1

Submarines are always silent and strange. Rarely, however, relevant information is leaked through the space program, we have said before.

This time it was not NASA's space program, but the European Space Program seemed to take seriously recommendation #8 of a 1997 NASA study we had highlighted here:

8. Research on gender with respect to behavior and performance on space missions needs to be assessed with respect to space crews, ground crews,
families.

WHAT HAPPENED in 1999 (from Monkeys in a Can):

A 110-day experiment in isolation that was carried out in a mock space station in Moscow in 1999 showed how things can badly go wrong. One module housed four Russian men; the other, three international test subjects, from Austria, Canada and Japan. Reports within the space community say that during a New Year’s celebration two of the Russian men engaged in a 10-minute fist-fight that left blood on the walls before they were restrained by the other men. The mission commander hauled the only female, Judith Lapierre, a Canadian, out of sight of the experiment’s cameras and twice gave her a French kiss that she fought in vain to resist. The Japanese participant was so traumatised by this episode that he quit the experiment altogether. The Canadian and Austrian, a male scientist, continued with the mission — but insisted on having locks fitted to their module door. [color emphasis added]

More here.

Submarines are always silent and strange. Rarely, however, relevant information is leaked through the space program.