The Longest Goodbye

Discover one of the most buzzed-about docs at this year’s Hot Docs Festival!

Within our lifetimes, NASA plans to complete its lengthiest human space flight yet by sending astronauts to Mars. The trip to the Red Planet will take three years; one of the greatest challenges facing the mission will be how to maintain the mental health of astronauts living in extreme isolation. Moreover, their families will experience prolonged physical disconnection as well, which will take ingenuity and strength to cope with here on Earth. Tasked with figuring out what it might take to keep the connection active, astute NASA operational psychologist Dr. Al Holland has studied the patterns, rituals, and successes of isolating events like the 2010 mining accident in Copiapó, Chile, as well as past NASA missions, to draw his conclusions. What he finds offers valuable lessons for our own recent (and, for some, ongoing) experiences of pandemic-related isolation. Aisha Jamal

Tickets: $15 (Members from $10)