How to thrive in space

Caroline Clark reviews the BBC series 'Once Upon a Time in Space'.

10 December 2025

24 February 2022. Just another routine day on the International Space Station, orbiting Earth from 400km above the atmosphere. Yet looking down, US astronauts and Russian cosmonauts noticed flashes of light, followed by huge clouds of smoke rising up. Russia had just begun a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In that moment, the political fractures on the planet beneath them collided with the fragile cooperation holding them aloft.

Space is the stage upon which the best and worst of humanity plays out and astronauts must hold these competing tensions in mind in order to do their job. Once Upon A Time in Space, a BBC Two documentary charting 70 years of spaceflight, speaks to members of both the US and Russian programmes to explore what it takes to thrive in space – the so-called 'Right Stuff' that astronauts are rigorously selected for. What makes some people better suited to living and working off-planet? And how has that definition shifted over time?

Here's how the series, across four episodes, which were a masterclass in storytelling, considered such questions.
America first: From military heroics to representing all of humankind

The first humans chosen to venture beyond Earth's atmosphere came from the military. Yuri Gagarin, the first person in space in 1961, was in the Soviet Air Force. Alan Shepard, the second person in space and the first American, was a test pilot with the US Navy.

Military training produced exactly the traits early spaceflight demanded: the ability to tolerate extreme risk, remain calm under pressure, follow orders without question, and operate complex machines in life-threatening conditions. During the early space race, when the United States was scrambling to catch up with the Soviet Union, these qualities defined the original 'Right Stuff'.

Once Upon A Time in Space picks up the story in the mid-1970s, when the appetite for space exploration had declined, and NASA needed a new approach. In 1976, the agency launched an open call for astronauts, inviting members of the public to apply for the first time. No military background was required, and applicants did not need to know how to fly. This shift opened the door for women and minorities, redefining who was seen as fit to represent humanity in space.

This first episode shows the impact of this shift. Carl, brother of Ron McNair, who was one of the new Shuttle astronauts, reflects that black Americans went from 'slavery to space, in four generations'. Prior to this open call, the subtle, lingering effects of segregation in society were still present: whilst white men got to go to space, black men got sent to war in Vietnam. Carl recalls the pride his father, an 8th-grade dropout, felt as the father of an American astronaut.

Also among this first civilian cohort was Anna Fisher, an emergency doctor. She was selected while her husband, Bill, was not, and consequently she felt she had to temper her excitement so he would not feel overshadowed: a clear example of 'emotional labour'.

Anna also felt pressure to prove her commitment in ways male astronauts did not, returning to work just three days after giving birth. Years later, her daughter Kristin was asked whether Anna had been selfish to go to space when she was only one year old. As Kristin points out, male astronauts are never asked this. Progress in representation had not erased the gendered expectations placed on women, even as astronauts.
The Russian Thing: Resilience, adaptability, and the psychology of cooperation

When the Soviet Union began to collapse in 1989, it deeply affected its space programme and sense of national pride. Cosmonauts who had once been national heroes with statues erected in their honour went unpaid, and many took second jobs simply to survive.

Yet despite the turmoil, Russia remained the global leader in long-duration spaceflight. The United States had a genuine fear that the USSR's collapse could lead to nuclear technology landing in the hands of rogue states. Keeping the Russian space industry alive became a strategic priority, and NASA found a way to channel money to them through cooperation on the Mir programme.

In 1995, American astronauts and their families were uprooted to Russia to train alongside cosmonauts. It was an unpopular decision, and many were uneasy about collaborating so closely with former enemies, but the cooperation was politically non-negotiable.

The Russians, for their part, welcomed the Americans warmly, even clearing parks to build new housing. Mir forced astronauts and cosmonauts to collaborate. The space station was old, cramped and frequently malfunctioned. To operate it safely required crews to set aside differences, to understand and trust one another. A mission in 1997 made this starkly clear, as it was fraught with life-threatening emergencies. In every crisis, American astronauts and Russian cosmonauts had to respond together, relying on each other to keep themselves alive.

This period redefined the 'Right Stuff' once again. Success in space now hinged on teamwork: the ability to set aside political histories, build trust quickly and work as a unified crew under extraordinary pressure.
Politics always wins: How politics and professionalism reshaped the meaning of the 'Right Stuff'

This episode highlights how the 'Right Stuff' is not the same as having passion for space. Two friends, Dan and Carlos, went to university together. Carlos is a larger-than-life character who was obsessed with the cosmos from a young age. Meanwhile, Dan is a keen engineer but completely disinterested in space. Both apply to NASA, but only Dan gets selected, much to Carlos' chagrin.

In the mid-1990s, NASA selected astronauts based on mission requirements and favoured traits such as diplomacy and emotional steadiness more than the passion and heroism seen in the past. Later, we see Dan's resilience put to the test – in 2007, his mother died in an accident whilst he was onboard the International Space Station. The first astronaut to lose a loved one whilst on mission, he had to grieve alone by himself for two more months until his return, a reality that no amount of Earth-based training can prepare you for.

As space exploration continued into the 2000s, the emphasis deepened on astronauts' ability to not just cooperate, but remain diplomatic in multicultural crews in spite of geopolitical differences back on Earth. The ISS marked a pinnacle in cross-nation ambition and collaboration, and was purposefully engineered so that the crew had to work together.

Whilst the US portion of the ISS housed the power module, the Russian section had propulsion, and both were necessary for the station to function. The role of space explorers professionalised, and teamwork became essential to success.

However, just as the governments of two former enemy nations were finding ways to set aside their differences and learn to trust each other to work together, the private space sector was taking off. MirCorp was founded by US telecommunications entrepreneur Walt Anderson, with the purpose of keeping the Mir space station going.

The private space company sent the first civilian, Dennis Tito, into space in 2001. This annoyed NASA, which thought it inappropriate for a tourist with a minimal amount of training to ride into space; by doing so, it was undermining the agency's careful selection of personnel with the 'Right Stuff' in favour of those who could simply buy their way in.
Friends forever: The emotional intelligence to live together off-planet

As life continued onboard the ISS, 400km above Earth, the 'Right Stuff' meant becoming long-term residents in a multicultural household. Missions went from lasting weeks to months, and astronauts were no longer simply representatives of their nations. Yet trust did not emerge automatically; it had to be built.

Astronauts learned each other's communication styles, shared food, celebrated holidays together and created small rituals to make life in isolation and confinement feel bearable. The 'Right Stuff' now included emotional intelligence, curiosity about others and the ability to create harmony within a politically uneasy partnership.

This period also required a new form of resilience and adaptability. When the Shuttle programme ended in 2011, the US lost its ability to launch astronauts independently and became reliant on Russia for access to space. For nearly a decade, American astronauts trained and operated in a climate of national vulnerability, as geopolitical tensions grew.

China and India entered the race, making rapid progress in developing their own space programmes to rival those of the West. Private companies, such as SpaceX and Blue Origin, began reshaping expectations of what space exploration would look like. Astronauts increasingly found themselves in the middle of navigating a landscape where national ambition, commercial innovation and international cooperation intertwined in complex ways.

Yet despite these competing forces, the ISS offers a final, enduring lesson that we can take forward in our future space ventures. Through the cupola window, astronauts saw a fragile, borderless Earth: a view that made our mutual interdependence impossible to ignore. In space, no person, no nation, can thrive alone. The 'Right Stuff', in its most modern form, is the capacity to move beyond rivalry, to set aside our differences, and work together for the common good of all humanity.

Caroline Clark is a leadership and performance coach for women in tech and space. An analogue astronaut and public speaker, she focuses on helping leaders thrive under pressure and build the resilience needed for high-stakes environments.

In 'Space to lead: Psychological adaptation and resilience in analogue space missions', she reports back from her adventures…

SOURCE:

https://www.bps.org.uk/psychologist/how-thrive-space(accessed 7.4.26)