To the Extreme

When astronauts look down at Earth, some report a phenomenon called the overview effect. In this state, they’re awestruck by the vastness and beauty of their home planet and the cosmos. They’re reminded of the fragility of human life and how small people are compared to the universe. Many also say the overview effect evokes self-transcendence, a perspective shift beyond one’s individual purpose, and an increased appreciation for humankind’s interconnectivity.

Estonia native Andres Käosaar hasn’t been to space yet, but he felt a similar sensation when he traveled to Antarctica’s King George Island in January 2025. The UCF psychology doctoral student joined a Swiss colleague on a three-week extracurricular research mission to study how people from different countries work together in this unique environment.

Surrounded by stark white glaciers, the bluest water he’s ever seen, colonies of penguins and persistent silence, Käosaar says the mission made him feel like he had journeyed to another planet. As an aspiring NASA psychologist, Käosaar’s doctoral work investigates how variations in traditions and social norms of people from different countries influence shared mental models — an especially fitting topic for an international student. He’s also interested in how isolation and extreme conditions impact individuals’ well-being and teamwork dynamics.

“This lack of shared understanding of expedition-related aspects results in tensions and individual negative emotional experiences,” Käosaar says.

“That’s something that NASA, or any space agency, hasn’t looked at much.”

“I listened to an astronaut talk a year ago and he said NASA should be paying more attention to this subject because working in space is really emotionally taxing,” he says. “There are not many studies out there that focus on those emotions and how to deal with them in this situation.”

Again, Käosaar can identify with these feelings on a smaller scale, as he’s already participated in a simulated Mars excursion. In December 2022 he spent two weeks on an analog mission at the Mars Desert Research Station in Hanksville, Utah. There, six-person research teams eat the same foods as astronauts in space. They conduct investigative work ranging from engineering to geology. And they have no contact with the outside world — not even Wi-Fi to check news or social media.

“You experience this isolation, lack of privacy and confinement [that’s the same as in space],” he says. “You’re not allowed to exit the station without spacesuits … [The experience really] tries to mimic life in space or life in [a space] station as closely as possible.”

While Käosaar, like all researchers, maintains objective judgment in his studies, he has an adventurous nature that informs his scientific
pursuits. When asked if he would like to actually go to space one day, there isn’t a moment of hesitation before Käosaar answers.

“One-hundred percent yes,” he says. “I have this childish dream that maybe in the next 20 to 30 years, when there are enough people living and working on the moon, then maybe there is room for me to go there as an industrial and organizational psychologist to help manage the stations and support with my knowledge and research.”

Enhancing Human Performance

While pursuing his master’s in psychology from the University of Tartu in Estonia, Käosaar developed an interest in space psychology, partially due to the influence of a college friend studying space physics. After earning his degree and an internship at the European Space Agency, he came to UCF in 2021 to begin his doctoral studies under the mentorship of Research Professor Shawn Burke, a leading industrial and organizational psychology researcher who specializes in maximizing team performance, particularly in challenging circumstances. At UCF she directs the Team Research and Adaptability in Complex Environments (TRACE) Lab.

NASA has sponsored Burke’s work for over a decade, using her expertise to better inform how to protect the space agency’s most precious
cargo: people.

“Everybody assumes they know what makes teams function well because most of us have been part of a team. But oftentimes we see people are very good at their individual tasks [but] don’t work well together,” Burke says. “The importance of doing research on teams is [that they] are ubiquitous and form the foundation of most organizations.”

Burke and Käosaar note that increasing team efficiency also requires studying differences in social norms, especially their concentrated presence in small environments and over long periods of time. NASA has an increased interest in this area because successfully sustaining human activity in space will require the most qualified people across the planet who can work in strenuous conditions.

“Oftentimes we … assume that everybody is like us, until something begins to go wrong,” Burke says. “Sometimes underlying … values and beliefs that may be different end up causing human interaction to degrade. So being able to recognize the differences that exist and work through them [is important].”

[Our psychology] doctoral program in general has a very collaborative environment. It is [the professors’] priority for you to do good science that’s interesting to you. … They don’t want to limit you.”

— Andres Käosaar, psychology doctoral student

It’s easier for countries to determine their own social and legal norms on their own lands. However, when physical spaces are shared with multiple nations, there are greater opportunities for miscommunications, and unintentional offenses can happen if customs from all sides aren’t understood. Once those differences are better comprehended, Burke says teams and organizations could work toward developing ways of collaborating that best serve everyone.

A Culture of Collaboration

As a faculty member, Burke shares with students more than 20 years of knowledge in the field, as well as connections to dozens of experts she’s met throughout her career. She encourages collaboration across the department and with other universities, as long as students perform well in their assigned academic responsibilities.

“The flexibility and autonomy [Burke] has allowed me to have is brilliant,” Käosaar says. “But really, our [psychology] doctoral program in general has a very collaborative environment. It is [the professors’] priority for you to do good science that’s interesting to you. If you find awesome opportunities outside of UCF, [they’re] rather supportive of that. They don’t want to limit you.”

For example, the simulated Mars mission Käosaar completed in Utah was a collaboration with Professor Andero Uusberg from the University of Tartu. The recent Antarctica mission — in partnership with postdoctoral researcher Monika Maslikowska and Professor Jan Schmutz from the University of Zurich, and Professor Pedro Marques Quinteiro from the University of Lusofona of Lisbon — was an international effort, including support from the Estonian government, plus the Swiss and Portuguese polar institutes.

“It’s always nice to have students that are very passionate about what they do. And [Andres] is definitely passionate,” Burke says. “He’s very good at networking. He’s got a lot of those qualities that you really want to see in graduate students and he’s very collaborative by nature, which is another kind of strength.”

For Käosaar, the Antarctica research trip was also an opportunity to gain firsthand experience and expand on a study he and Burke published in January. Their work examined the impacts on individuals’ emotions and the overall effectivity of teams among researchers who previously voyaged to the region.

While Käosaar prioritizes his doctoral work, including Burke’s active NASA-funded research projects, he’s free to engage in research activities to help him achieve his goal of working for NASA someday. These experiences also better inform the TRACE Lab’s work to support NASA now.

Using the Past to Propel the Future

To support the TRACE Lab, Käosaar has recruited more than 30 research assistants over the past four years. For his own NASA grant awarded in February 2024, he recruited a team of eight undergraduate students, providing them a chance to complete research sooner than most students earning bachelor’s degrees, and better prepare those who will pursue graduate studies.

“NASA is such a big name that it can be intimidating to think about working on research for it,” says Victoria Torres, a psychology undergraduate student who became involved with the TRACE Lab after an academic success coach in her department connected her to the opportunity. “I feel like a small cog in the machine of this research. But it’s an incredible opportunity to contribute to [space exploration].”

Luke Middaugh ’25, a psychology student who graduated from UCF this spring and is set to continue his doctoral studies at Texas A&M University, is another member of the research group. Like Käosaar, he wants to work for NASA as a psychologist, specifically designing experiments. He says he chose UCF because of the variety of tracks across the psychology program.

“I knew that UCF had a really strong Department of Psychology. Other schools I applied to didn’t have that,” Middaugh says. “I could set a focus on instrumental design and research [by pursuing the experimental track], and that was really important to me.”

He started contributing to research in his second semester with the Minerva Research Initiative, funded by the U.S. Department of Defense, which examined the impact of individual and team cognitive processes on teamwork during collaborative problem-solving events. His work included coding transcripts related to critical incidents during the manned Apollo space missions, such as the Apollo 13 oxygen tank explosion and the resulting efforts to bring three astronauts back home alive. Based on different mission and problem-solving incident characteristics, the findings shed light on how astronaut teams engaged in different teamwork behaviors to overcome the challenges. This is important as it provides insight into the types of cognitive and teamwork processes that foster successful collaborative problem-solving, both within the crew, and between the crew and Mission Control.

No matter the level of complexity of a problem, astronauts engaged in a proportionate level of team evaluation and consideration for alternative solutions, Middaugh says.

“This indicates there was a high level of shared mental models among the crew members,” he says. “[And it] indicates the processes they were trained on and the communication methods they used, including closed-loop communication, are really effective. The Apollo missions are a starting point for training our astronauts going forward.”

But it’s important to consider that each of the 24 Apollo astronauts were American. As collaboration advances across worldwide space agencies, so does the need to understand how various traditions and social norms influence astronauts’ shared comprehension of the mission environment.

Investigating International Relations

Launched in 1998, the International Space Station (ISS)’s main partners include the United States, Canada, Japan, Russia and the participating countries of the European Space Agency. Astronauts from 18 countries have visited the station, according to NASA.

For more than 25 years, various studies have investigated how astronauts from other nations work together on the ISS. Findings have shown differences in how people communicate, collaborate, cope and use shared spaces.

“People have different perceptions about traditions or how to regulate emotions or, for example, [determining] what level of hierarchy we want to have in a team, and so on,” Käosaar says.

During his trip to Antarctica, Käosaar observed these factors as he interviewed researchers from different regions. His stay was split between Polish and Chilean stations, visiting other nations’ stations for interviews. The 70 research stations across Antarctica represent 29 countries and every continent.

“It was interesting to see how countries that are far away from each other geographically, such as Chile and China, are close to each other in this environment,” he says. “Those people are from very different backgrounds and very different languages, but here they have to be very adaptive and flexible to be able to coordinate and collaborate with each other.”

An example Käosaar recalls is when someone from one of the stations had a dental issue, so another country’s station, which had a good medical facility, offered to complete X-rays and provide care.

“The Antarctic environment itself creates this feeling of community that you really have to help,” he says. “I imagine that on the moon or Mars, there would also be a similar situation with different stations having different capabilities that need to support each other because safety is very important and helping a human being is paramount.”

A few differences Käosaar says he observed were mainly related to the civilian or military perspectives of the stations and general differences in information accuracy. For example, a station stated five people were coming to visit another station when, instead, 20 people showed up, requiring more time and effort from the hosting station to accommodate extra guests. He also notes that more regimented military stations typically didn’t support a more relaxed social environment, which can contribute to emotional regulation issues over time, especially for winter expeditions.

To a certain degree, all Antarctic stations have to be flexible with operations because of fluctuating weather, including temperatures, winds and tides. While the ISS has already provided some insight into how international teams work together, there are missing environmental variables that would influence how astronauts operate on the moon or Mars. Part of the reason researchers are studying working conditions in Antarctica is to better understand what it’ll be like to work beyond Earth.

Ideal Variables in Severe Conditions

Antarctica has qualities that make the location a great testbed for the space-like conditions Burke and Käosaar are interested in: isolated, confined and extreme environments, also known as ICE.

“This ICE environment amplifies all the emotions and stressors you feel because you don’t have your normal social support, everything is new or changing, or there is a lot going on,” Käosaar says. “You really have to have very good coping mechanisms to deal with that stress and to be able to perform your duties and also [manage your emotions].”

Without someone’s typical support system in ICE environments, Käosaar and Burke’s January 2025 study hints that journaling can be an effective method for managing emotions in tough conditions. Ultimately, the researchers know they must continue to investigate what the correct factors are for putting together a good team.

There are several approaches to determining the right recipe for creating a group dynamic. Typically, Käosaar says, psychology researchers first consider the “big five” personality traits — openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism — often referred to as OCEAN.

“[For a good team member], what has been found is neuroticism should be as low as possible because neurotic people can be more reactive,” he says. “Conscientiousness should be quite high because this [indicates] how goal-oriented and structured someone is.”

This feeling of venturing into the unknown and experiencing the elements firsthand — it’s just something that really makes me feel alive.”

— Andres Käosaar, psychology doctoral student

With the variable conditions of ICE environments, Käosaar notes conscientiousness shouldn’t be too high, as that may make someone more rigid when situations require a level of flexibility.

People with a high tendency for openness tend to be curious and embrace challenges, while those with a low tendency may be more practical and conventional. Those who rank higher for agreeableness are typically empathic and cooperative, while people who place lower can appear more dominant and overly critical.

Käosaar says extraversion, which relates to a person’s sociability, is a trait that may serve a team best when members are somewhere in the middle, such as ambiverts. These individuals are outgoing enough to build bonds with others and speak up when needed, but reserved enough to take and give personal space.

“Personality’s not the only factor. There are those interpersonal skills, abilities and values that matter, too,” he says. “Regarding skills for long-term missions, taking care of your own things, and being reliable and trustworthy, are quite important for group living. This comes down to flexibility and being empathetic, as well. You have to understand the needs of others.”

While it’s easier to identify helpful individual traits, skills, abilities and values, it can be complex finding the right mix of people with those characteristics to assemble a team, which is why recruitment and making the right selections are crucial.

Embracing the Elements

Since Käosaar returned from his Antarctic adventure, he’s had a reinforced purpose for his work with Burke and the TRACE Lab. Over the next few months, he and the team will finalize findings on their research project for NASA and make recommendations for how people from different countries can improve collaboration, mitigating issues related to different values, social norms and differences in languages.

“What makes this difficult is that every time [and every team] is different, so there is no single best way of dealing with these tensions,” he says. “It depends on the individuals in the team and [the team’s] composition.”

Before Käosaar’s anticipated graduation in 2026, he’ll take on at least one more extracurricular challenge to enhance his knowledge of ICE environments. This December he’ll row across the Atlantic Ocean with a team of three other Estonians who, like Käosaar, will only have six months of rowing training before their journey. The challenge is known as The World’s Toughest Row, spanning 45 consecutive days on the water.

“Living around 40 days in a small rowing boat in the ocean will definitely add another layer of understanding of what it requires to continue performing, [and to] keep your team coherent and your own psyche in check while being mentally and physically devastated,” he says.

The pursuit to better understand what influences the way people are, how they handle challenges and how they work with others remains constant as society evolves. With humankind inching closer to advancing life beyond Earth, this new world of psychology will need to be further explored. If Käosaar eventually makes it to the moon as an industrial and organizational psychologist, there will be plenty of new extremes for him to test. And, finally, an opportunity to appreciate the overview effect in full force.

“This feeling of venturing into the unknown and experiencing the elements firsthand — it’s just something that really makes me feel alive,” he says.
“I think space is that frontier right now for humanity. That’s the main connection that I feel [I can contribute to with my work] — pushing the boundaries and helping humanity to discover and evolve farther and farther.”