Depressed astronauts might get computerized solace

Oct 25, 5:02 AM (ET)

BOSTON (AP) - 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…

October 26, 2008 | Filed: Uncategorized