It’s one step closer to “2001: A Space Odyssey,” minus the creepy computer takeover.

NASA will begin clinical trials next month on the Virtual Space Station, a project that has a recorded video therapist leading astronauts through a style of depression therapy. The technology comes in an effort to combat depression among astronauts, something that occasionally crops up in conjunction with the isolation, odd daylight hours and cabin fever of living in space.

Depression in astronauts is widely speculated upon but its extent and effects are not well understood. Astronauts are reluctant to tell their superiors about it, for fear of being seen as mentally weak or incompetent. One wrong check on a performance evaluation could ground them — for good.

The new technology, then, could have numerous benefits, especially related to privacy. Astronauts could seek help at their own pace, and otherwise stellar candidates for space travel could cope with the isolation and small quarters of space. As the United States looks farther than the International Space Station and the moon, the computer programs could be an aid when swift communication with Earth is no longer a reality — anyone up for a trip to Mars?

Of course, this isn’t just for the benefit of those outside the Earth’s atmosphere. Project researchers hope one day the technology stays a little closer to home — eventually, the program could help out those who, for whatever reason, won’t see live therapists. Computer therapy could be cheaper, more private and more accessible to those who don’t live in major metropolitan areas.

Some may see this as the slippery slope to replacing all our interpersonal interaction with sophisticated machines. After all, if Facebook is the new friendship, why can’t a computer program be the new psychiatrist? But what such a view fails to account for is that this is technology at its best — giving humans a helping hand in dealing life when it’s nasty, brutish and short. Fighting depression with computers is a halfway step to combating what brings you down about your life — the computer can serve as a bridge back to the family and friends that love you, and that’s something HAL will never have.