Impact of Empathy on NASA Mission Performance: This project is aligned with the NASA Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. The focus of this project is to conduct a series of research studies examining the role of NASA crew member and mission control empathy during oral communications and the impact on NASA mission performance success. It involves an interdisciplinary team of faculty and undergraduate/graduate students with expertise in neuroscience, gerontology and communication sciences. It is a great fit with this NASA directorate as it focuses on human subject research centered on performance outcomes in NASA astronauts and mission control. As a next step upon project completion, we plan to test these constructs in simulated or real space environments such as the International Space Station which also falls under the purview of this Directorate. Furthermore, the project focuses on communication between NASA astronauts and mission control and thus may be relevant to the Space Communications and Navigation division under this Directorate. This project is also relevant to the NASA Office of Education Division because it involves student research training opportunities. In addition, the Principal Investigator on this project teaches STEM-related courses, such as the biology of aging and the aging brain.