Operational kindness and operational wit: Psychosocially supportive aspects of operational space-to-ground communication

Radio-based space-to-ground communication between crew members in space and mission control centers on the ground has the operational purpose of continuing safe and effective execution of tasks on missions to space. Space-to-ground communication does however also constitute one of the relatively few interpersonal relationships astronauts have during missions and in addition to serving an operational purpose, this communication can support astronauts' wellbeing. The purpose of this paper is to identify psychosocially supportive aspects of operational space-to-ground communication between astronauts in space and spacecraft communicators on the ground. Through qualitative analysis of authentic mission communication the paper identifies two supportive aspects and develops terminology for these supportive aspects. Operational kindness describes operational messages that are considerate, show understanding of others and include implicitly expressed enjoyment of associating with others. Operational wit describes operational messages in which not only content and clarity, but also the style a message is conveyed with is given attention by including a subtle wit or charm. Both aspects are illustrated with excerpts from data and discussed in relation to existing research.