--- title: "What Astronauts’ Tweets Could Tell Scientists About the Psychology of Space Travel" description: "Scientists are studying astronauts' tweets — and they suggest that astronauts actually do get lonelier while they're at the International Space Station." date: "2018-10-31" modified: "2018-10-31" authors: - name: "Jon Christian" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/scientists-studying-astronauts-tweets" categories: - "Off-World" - "Space" tags: - "international space station" - "mental health" - "the digest" - "twitter" --- # What Astronauts’ Tweets Could Tell Scientists About the Psychology of Space Travel ![]() *\Image: Lonfeldt/Tag Hartman-Simkins\* ## Space Tweets We already knew that Twitter [probably isn't great for mental health.]() But it turns out the platform could help us keep astronauts in a healthy state of mind. According to a [fascinating new story]() on *Space.com*, scientists are now analyzing astronauts' tweets for signs that the isolation of orbit is [making them lonely](). ## Space Madness In [a paper]() they presented at Berlin's International Astronautical Congress, researchers at the University of British Columbia describe how they analyzed tweets by 13 astronauts before, during, and after missions on the International Space Station. The idea was to identify positive and negative emotions, as well as tweets that referred to friends or family, in order to suss out emotions that the astronauts might not disclose overtly "The idea is that the thoughts behind or the context behind those tweets still comes from the astronaut themselves, so even when people try to conceal their emotions, our words sort of give us away," lead researcher Sara Ahmadian [told *Space.com.*]() ## Sub(orbital)tweet In general, the researchers found the astronauts tweeted fewer positive emotional words while in space — though the number increased after they returned to Earth. Ahmadian is hopeful that insights from the research could help us better understand the mental and emotional impact of space travel on astronauts as we send them on longer missions to ever-farther destinations. **READ MORE:** [Tweeting from Space? How 280 Characters Can Change Astronaut Psychology]() \[*Space.com*\] ***More on social media in space: [What’s it Like Living in Space: Reddit AMA with NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly]()*** ## Author I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()