Crew on the ISS: Creativity or determinism?

Analyzing the experience of human flights to the Mir space station in 1986-2000 and to the ISS in 2000-2008, as well as Space Shuttle missions we can define structural and organizational tendencies in human missions to space and mission support. The tendency to the increased determinism in flight operations leads to lower flexibility of the "Crew-Mission Control Center" link in case of contingency. We justify the necessity to reduce the centralization of the control process and to hand over some mission control centers (MCC) authority to the International Space Station (ISS) crew. We conclude that human missions to the Moon and Mars where crew actions will be independent to a high degree will be impossible without resolution of this issue. Creativity and determinism should be properly balanced. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.