Sleeping In Space - Insomnia's Final Frontier? With Astronaut Nicole Stott
1h 1m | May 3, 2021In this episode
- Why this interview was recorded on the day Ingenuity first flew on Mars
- Nicole Stott’s 104 days in space and becoming the 10th woman to perform a spacewalk
- What 16 daily sunrises and sunsets mean for circadian timing aboard the ISS
- How adjustable LED lighting helps create stronger day-and-night signals
- Why Earth-gazing can make an astronaut lose track of bedtime
- How sleeping bags and private crew quarters work in microgravity
- Why Stott’s spine elongated and made her first nights in space uncomfortable
- Why she later experienced some of the best sleep of her life in orbit
- Why Stott’s sleep experience was better than the average seen in astronaut sleep studies
- The 2009 airlock campout procedure before her spacewalk — and why NASA no longer uses it routinely
- Stott’s rule for the night before a high-stakes event: do not introduce a brand-new sleep routine
- Earplugs, regular bedtime and preparing the morning before going to sleep
- Michael Grandner on sleep performance anxiety
- Paradoxical intention and why trying to stay awake can sometimes help insomnia
- Sleep restriction therapy, stimulus control and the modern CBT-I evidence hierarchy
- Why Neil’s “melatonin only works for jet lag” claim needs narrowing
- Space for Art and Stott’s post-NASA mission
About Nicole Stott
Nicole Stott is a veteran NASA astronaut, aquanaut, engineer, artist and author. She flew twice in space and logged 104 days in orbit, including service as a flight engineer on ISS Expeditions 20 and 21. She became the 10th woman to perform a spacewalk, was the first person to use the ISS robotic arm to capture a free-flying cargo vehicle, and painted the first watercolor in space. She is a founding director of the Space for Art Foundation and currently serves as an ISS Advisory Committee member.
About Dr. Michael Grandner
Michael Grandner, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and behavioral sleep medicine specialist at the University of Arizona. He directs the Sleep and Health Research Program and the Behavioral Sleep Medicine Clinic, and his research focuses on sleep health, insomnia, circadian timing and the relationship between sleep and physical and mental health.
MENTIONED
Nicole Stott — NASA
NASA’s current biography, including Stott’s 104 days in space and her place as the 10th woman to perform a spacewalk.
Nicole Stott’s September 1, 2009 spacewalk
NASA’s record of Stott and John Olivas’s six-hour, 35-minute EVA.
Sleeping and circadian rhythms aboard the ISS
NASA’s overview of sleep environment, schedules, lighting and the 16 daily sunrises experienced in low-Earth orbit.
NASA: Seven Ways Astronauts Improve Sleep
NASA’s current inadequate-sleep risk page
Current agency framing of sleep loss, circadian desynchronization and work overload as human-spaceflight risks.
Sleep deficiency and hypnotic use in astronauts
The 2014 actigraphy study covering shuttle and ISS crews, including average inflight sleep and sleep-medication use.
ISS airlock “campout” prebreathe protocol
NASA technical background on the overnight reduced-pressure procedure used during the era of Stott’s spacewalk.
Paradoxical intention for insomnia
A 2021 systematic review and meta-analysis of 10 trials.
AASM behavioral insomnia guideline
The modern evidence hierarchy for CBT-I, sleep restriction, stimulus control and relaxation therapy.
Melatonin and chronic insomnia
The AASM pharmacologic guideline, which suggests against melatonin as a treatment for chronic sleep-onset or sleep-maintenance insomnia in adults.
Melatonin and circadian rhythm sleep-wake disorders
The guideline showing why “melatonin only works for jet lag” is too broad.
Ingenuity’s first flight on Mars
The April 19, 2021 flight that had happened only hours before this interview was recorded.
NASA: Ingenuity’s first flight
Space for Art Foundation
The organization Stott discusses near the end of the interview.
Back to Earth
Nicole Stott’s 2021 book about what spaceflight taught her about Earth and our responsibility to it.
Michael Grandner — University of Arizona
Current university profile for Grandner and his behavioral sleep medicine work.
