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Astronauts prepare for the extreme isolation required by a Mars mission in “Space: The Longest Goodbye” on INDEPENDENT LENS – May 6 at 10pm
< < Back to“SPACE: THE LONGEST GOODBYE” LIFTS OFF ON MAY 6
ON PBS’S INDEPENDENT LENS
NASA Psychologists Prepare Astronauts for the Extreme Isolation of a Three-Year Mission to Mars
Space: The Longest Goodbye,” a riveting documentary investigating life-in-space psychology, directed by Ido Mizrahy (“Gored”), written and produced by Mizrahy and Nir Sa’ar (“Love It Was Not”), and produced by Valda Witt (“Gored”) and Paul Cadieux (“The Triplets of Belleville”), premieres on INDEPENDENT LENS May 6, 2024. This thoughtful documentary explores how the monumental task of keeping astronauts mentally stable in space is tested to the extreme in anticipation of NASA’s pending Mars mission and its required three-year absence from Earth.
Credit: ITVS
“Space: The Longest Goodbye” debuts on PBS’s INDEPENDENT LENS on May 6, at 10 p.m. The film will be available to stream on the PBS App and also accessible via PBS’s flagship YouTube channel.
“Space: The Longest Goodbye” follows NASA’s real-life attempts to prepare astronauts for a journey to Mars. NASA’s goal to send astronauts to Mars would require a three-year absence from Earth, during which communication in real time would be impossible due to the immense distance. We meet the psychologists whose job is to keep astronauts mentally stable in outer space, as they are caught between their dream of reaching new frontiers and their basic human need to stay connected to home.
“Our initial idea was to create a kind of historical document about the first crewed mission to Mars, but documentaries have a way of telling the filmmakers where the story wants to go. And so, a chance meeting with Dr. Al Holland, a senior NASA psychologist who ultimately became one of the central subjects in the documentary, was a transformational moment for us. The moment when our space story became a personal human drama. While painted on the extraordinary canvas of the agency’s preparations for the first crewed mission to Mars, our story is about one of the most terrestrial challenges imaginable: the never-ending tension so many of us experience between our desire to pursue our dreams, and our equally powerful need to stay connected to our roots.”
In the next decade, NASA intends to send astronauts to Mars for the first time. To succeed, crew members must overcome unprecedented life-
threatening challenges. And while many of these hazards are physical, the most elusive are psychological. Throughout their three-year absence, crew members won’t be able to communicate with Earth in real time due to the immense distance. The psychological impact of this level of disconnectedness and isolation—both from mission control and loved ones— is impossible to predict, endangering the mission itself. Directed to mitigate this threat is Dr. Al Holland, a NASA psychologist whose job is to keep astronauts mentally stable in space. “Space: The Longest Goodbye” follows Holland, rookie astronauts Kayla Barron and Matthias Maurer, and former astronaut Cady Coleman, among others, as they grapple with the tension between their dream of reaching new frontiers and their basic human need to stay connected to home. This conflict transcends space travel: how do humans balance the quest for progress with a deep connection to history and each other?
“‘Space: The Longest Goodbye’ is an intensive look at the challenges faced by astronauts as they prepare for liftoff and their journey in space, the impact it has on their loved ones and relationships, and the obstacles NASA’s team has to mitigate with possible solutions,” said Lois Vossen, INDEPENDENT LENS executive producer. “It’s a documentary about courage, intelligence, community, and trust for those brave enough and willing to reach new frontiers. But most importantly, it is about sacrifice.”
“Space: The Longest Goodbye” received Series and Special Projects funding from ITVS. Visit the “Space: The Longest Goodbye” page on INDEPENDENT LENS to learn more about the film.