{"id":828373,"date":"2026-07-27T02:52:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T02:52:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/828373\/"},"modified":"2026-07-27T02:52:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T02:52:13","slug":"its-not-rocket-science-a-day-in-the-life-of-a-nasa-behavioral-health-scientist-well-actually","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/828373\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It\u2019s not rocket science\u2019: a day in the life of a Nasa behavioral health scientist | Well actually"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr Suzanne Bell, an organizational psychologist, leads the Behavioral Health and Performance Laboratory at Nasa\u2019s Johnson Space<\/a> Center.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your morning routine?<\/p>\n

My morning time is very important to me. I get up without an alarm by 5am every day, and from 5 to 7.15 I sit and have my morning latte. It\u2019s a focused time where I do work or some longer reading, or respond to personal emails and do paperwork. Two hours of completely uninterrupted time every morning is just wonderful.<\/p>\n

What did work look like today?<\/p>\n

I am the principal investigator for Artemis<\/a> research, for crew health and readiness. It\u2019s the first time a crew\u2019s gone beyond low-Earth orbit<\/a> in 50 years, and the first time they\u2019ve flown in Orion.<\/p>\n

We collected data from the Artemis II crew, and finished our pre-mission data collection about a month ago. The human research program that funds the work wanted a briefing on a really quick turnaround. We briefed them on what we need to do and what we need to address before Artemis III.<\/p>\n

Suzanne Bell. Photograph: James Blair\/Nasa<\/p>\n

Right now, we\u2019re working on sustained lunar presence and setting up a moon base<\/a>. We have data that can already inform some of the ways that should be built.<\/p>\n

When do you eat lunch?<\/p>\n

I actually didn\u2019t have time for a lunch break, so I grabbed a salad on the way into a meeting. I\u2019m a very healthy eater \u2013 I follow the daily dozen<\/a>, which is a healthy longevity diet. I don\u2019t eat flour or sugar unless it\u2019s a special occasion.<\/p>\n

Was there anything especially challenging or exciting?<\/p>\n

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We know a lot about low-Earth orbit. We know a lot about what it\u2019s like to work and live in the International Space Station. But we\u2019re really focused on the moon, sustaining a presence there and going on to Mars. That research is so exciting because it is data from people who have gone into deep space, and that is the direction we\u2019re heading.<\/p>\n

What time did you leave the office, and what did you do with your evening?<\/p>\n

I left at about 5. I tend not to work late. I have a 13-year-old and a 15-year-old, and they\u2019re very busy in sports and activities, so in the evening I like to prioritize being available to them. My 15-year-old really likes to work out with me. So we go to the gym together and we lift weights. My other son is involved in a lot of sports, and we do indoor climbing. But I go to bed really early. I\u2019m asleep by 9 or 9.30. I get my restorative time on a Saturday or Sunday \u2013 you need a break. It\u2019s not rocket science.<\/p>\n

This interview has been edited and condensed<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dr Suzanne Bell, an organizational psychologist, leads the Behavioral Health and Performance Laboratory at Nasa\u2019s Johnson Space Center.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":828374,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[49,48,66,306],"class_list":["post-828373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=828373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828373\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/828374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=828373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=828373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=828373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}