Depressed astronauts might get computerized solace

BOSTON -- Your work is dangerous and your co-workers rely on you to stay alive. But you can never get far from those colleagues. You can't see your family for months, even years. The food isn't great. And forget stepping out for some fresh air.

No wonder the adventure of space flight can also be stressful, isolating and depressing. So scientists are working on giving a computer the ability to offer some of the understanding guidance — if not all the warmth — of a human therapist, before psychological problems or interpersonal conflicts compromise a mission.

Clinical tests on the four-year, $1.74 million project for NASA, called the Virtual Space Station, are expected to begin in the Boston area by next month.

The new program is nothing like science fiction's infamous HAL, the onboard artificial intelligence that goes awry in "2001: A Space Odyssey." The Virtual Space Station's interaction between astronaut and computer is far less sophisticated and far more benevolent.

In the project, sponsored by the National Space Biomedical Research Institute, a recorded video therapist guides astronauts through a widely used depression therapy called "problem-solving treatment."

The recording helps astronauts identify reasons for their depression. Then the program helps them make a plan to fight the depression, based on the descriptions the astronauts type in about their problems.

Astronauts also can learn strategies for handling conflict through interactive role-playing, and even read psychology books.

Twenty-nine current and former astronauts have been consulted for the project.

"If things go down the wrong pathway, you're depending on each other for your survival. So you want to make sure you're working together well and trust each other implicitly," said Dr. Jay Buckey, a former astronaut on the Space Shuttle Columbia who's collaborating on the program.

While the program is designed for astronauts, project leaders say it could help Earth-bound patients who won't talk to a therapist because of cost or pride or because they live in rural areas with few psychologists. In fact, it will be civilian patients, not astronauts, who take part in the initial tests in Boston.