Spectacular blogger and former WatcherÂ’s Council member, Dr. Pat Santy, speaks about her area of professional expertise in this article from MSNBC.

Serious questions are being raised this week about how closely NASA monitors the mental health of its astronauts, particularly regarding personal situations that could detract from their ability to handle their stressful jobs. NASA Administrator Mike Griffin has ordered a full review of current procedures and an assessment of potential improvements to them.

Veteran NASA flight surgeon and professional psychiatrist Patricia Santy worked at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston from 1984 to 1991, eventually becoming flight surgeon, or flight doctor, at Mission Control Center. She also is a board-certified psychiatrist, and helped develop psychiatric standards used to assess astronaut applicants in that period. She literally wrote the book on the physiological analysis involved in choosing space flyers titled "Choosing the Right Stuff: The Psychological Selection of Astronauts and Cosmonauts." She is widely regarded as a leading authority on the psychology of human spaceflight.
Santy talked to MSNBC.com about NASA practices and her thoughts about potential improvements to the screening process.

HereÂ’s hoping that Pat is intimately involved in whatever changes are made by NASA coming out of this case.

Posted by: Greg at 11:21 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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