reflects duty and authority assignments, by Earth agencies, in relation to mission requirements. Such duty-related class differences may carry over to the off duty aspects of space station living, especially if they are reinforced by differential access to the social resources of the space station. This class structure could become the model for future social evolution in the station, eventually leading to various forms of class prejudice and discrimination. The panel regards this as undesirable with respect to the long-range future of space society. Formation of social classes is probably inevitable, and the panel does not regard this as necessarily undesirable. It is necessary, however, to make efforts to minimize the dysfunctional aspects of social class formation by ensuring that all workers have meaningful duty assignments that are related to mission achievements, that station facilities are equitably available to all workers, by ensuring that all crew members share equitably in the less desirable tasks, and by minimizing the use of status symbols that reflect different levels of social and duty functioning. 5. Health and Hygiene Weightlessness, combined with limited personal hygiene facilities that must be shared by all crew members, will require that an inordinate amount of time be devoted to personal hygiene; this may interfere with duty scheduling or with off-duty time. The panel regards it as desirable for personal ablution activities to be scheduled as part of the duty day, and that formal sanctions be applied to ensure compliance. It is more desirable, however, for such matters to be handled informally if possible. It is, of course, undesirable to give insufficient attention to this matter for to do so may allow personal hygiene eccentricities to become sources of hostility and interpersonal conflict. Modular construction may require provisions for medical care within the commonuse area of each habitat module. This permits planners to apply multiple use concepts and conservation of space principles in station planning; it also contributes to worker survivability in emergency situations that require isolation of modules from the remainder of the station. With increased work force size and extended tours of duty, however, individuals can be expected to remain on-orbit while recovering from minor injuries or illness and this may constitute a potential source of problems. Medical and health activities will take priority over other uses of the commons area in the module and this will deny module residents the use of the facility for normal off-duty activities. Conversely, continued normal use of the module is likely to be detrimental to a convalescent patient. This could constitute a source of hostility and resentment toward those who are ill and might lead workers to become obsessively concerned with health and safety. It would be more desirable to provide the station with a special use module for health care. Living in free-fall necessitates extended periods of vigorous exercise on a daily basis and/or the use of chemical therapy to preclude physiological deterioration. At least some workers will not want to devote so much time and effort to exercise and, given the choice, they may opt for chemical therapy with the concomitant potential for drug dependency. The panel recognized this as an undesirable situation, but also regarded formal scheduling of exercise as being undesirable. It is more desirable that crew members meet the exercise requirements willingly and that potential space workers be screened for a willingness to engage in athletic activities and a history of doing so. Independent or solitary types of exercise equipment will probably be
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