Abstract
Quality communication within a team is the prerequisite for its successful functioning. It is imperative for crew members to be able to work together, agree on work processes or daily activities resulting from isolated conditions, to fulfil their job roles and to make decisions effectively in key situations.
The communication is particularly demanding due to the facts that the crew is comprised of individuals with multifarious cultural backgrounds and linguistic abilities, that many tasks require a narrow specialization and that the common goal is of a particularly complex character. The worries regarding the failure of cosmic flight crews are completely justified in light of the fact that the members live in isolation for extended time periods in a small, closed space.
Furthermore, they are exposed to situations requiring extremely quick decisions and actions, followed by long periods of relatively monotonous tasks.