ISS Testbed for Analog Research Crew Autonomous Procedures (ISTAR Crew Autonomous Procedures) - 11.22.16
The ISS Testbed for Analog Research Crew Autonomous Procedures (ISTAR Crew Autonomous Procedures) investigation, an Exploration Detailed Test Objective (xDTO), examines how mission operations can be optimized in the presence of speed-of-light communication delays of up to tens of minutes. Present human space missions rely upon fast and almost continuous voice, data, command, and telemetry transmissions between crew and ground, a model that cannot succeed for exploration missions to Mars, near-Earth asteroids, or other targets in deep space. This investigation explores two ways to lessen the impact of delayed communication: first, providing the crew with revised written work instructions ("procedures") that give them extra information they need to complete a job and solve any problems that may arise while they do it, without having to call Mission Control as they do today; and second, supplementing voice calls between the crew and Mission Control with text messaging, a popular and intuitive method of communicating with variable delay which has proved its value in ground-based exploration mission simulations employing delayed communication and which is ready to be tested in space. Science Results for Everyone
Information Pending Experiment Details
David Korth, Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, United States
Sponsoring Space Agency
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD)
ISS Expedition Duration
May 2012 - September 2013
- ISS Testbed for Analog Research Crew Autonomous Procedures (ISTAR Crew Autonomous Procedures) is the first in a series of investigations exploring delayed voice communication and modified flight and ground operational procedures in preparation for the future human exploration of deep space.
- The initial International Space Station (ISS) tests, planned for Increments 31 through 34, include a United States On-orbit Segment (USOS) crewmember and the Houston Flight Control Team.
- Aim 1: To make and evaluate changes to current operational procedures, which rely on significant interaction between the crew and the Flight Control Team, to allow the crew to work more autonomously.
- Aim 2: To develop operational protocols for text messaging between the ISS crew and Mission Control Center (MCC), and to evaluate text messaging as a supplement to delayed voice communication. This work is done in parallel with continued exploration of communication delay in ground-based space exploration analogs such as Desert Research and Technology Studies (DRATS) and NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO).
- Aim 3: To prepare crews and flight control teams with skills and operational techniques needed for future deep space exploration missions with reduced communication and increased crew autonomy.
- Aim 4: To test, refine, and formally adopt the procedural and communication tools that are needed for future tests with formally delayed voice, data, or both, removing variables that could potentially confound an evaluation of the effects of the communication delay itself.
To facilitate a planned full clinical study of communication delay (JSC-HRP-076) in the Increment 35 and 36 timeframe, ISS Testbed for Analog Research Crew Autonomous Procedures (ISTAR Crew Autonomous Procedures) enlists crews and flight controllers to identify, modify, and evaluate a selection of crew procedures for increased crew autonomy, and to investigate text messaging as a supplement for restricted voice communication. This activity eliminates those two factors as potentially confounding variables in future evaluations of the effects of delayed communication. This investigation also provides valuable tests of the modified procedures and the messaging concept themselves.
a. Autonomous Crew Procedure Development and Execution: Delayed communication forces mission crews and their vehicles to be more autonomous. Crews must learn to do their work without the (often instantaneous) outside assistance currently available from Mission Control. Procedure owners also bear part of the burden of autonomous operations: they must learn how to write procedures that do not require calls to Mission Control and that contain enough extra information so that crews can perform them with no outside help. The procedure owners must also develop methods to train crewmembers to operate autonomously. Crews and flight controllers involved in this investigation gain valuable insight into how communication delay drives the design, construction, and operation of hardware and software for future deep-space systems.
b. Text Messaging Evaluation: Past and present ground-based simulated deep-space exploration missions such as DRATS and NEEMO include delayed voice and data communication. Operators in those tests report that text messaging is an effective supplement for delayed or restricted voice communication. The objective of this investigation is to evaluate text messaging in a real space-flight operational environment with restricted voice communication. The results, in combination with past and ongoing work in DRATS, NEEMO, and other space flight analogs, inform future operational use of text messaging when voice is ineffective.
This xDTO is the first of several investigations to learn how crews on the way to Mars or a near-Earth asteroid can best conduct mission operations in the presence of significant speed-of-light communications delays. The operational techniques that crews and flight controllers use in human spaceflight today depend on prompt and responsive radio communication. New operational tools and techniques to be investigated in this and future related studies are crucial to the success of future human exploration of deep space.
Operational Requirements and Protocols
The text messaging test enlists each USOS crewmember for an average of one working afternoon per month and includes normally scheduled tasks that require at least moderate interaction between crew and ground. Operations planners schedule the test period so that it does not include tasks of a critical nature or tasks that need direct voice communication for crew or vehicle safety. The crew participants do not call MCC on the radio during the test. Instead, they use a text messaging application. In MCC, the Capcom uses the same application to reply to the crew, and the Flight Director and other flight controllers are able to read the messages to and from the crew just as they listen to space-to-ground voice communications today. As with the autonomous procedure tests, the schedule reserves time for a debrief after the work period. It also includes extra time for the crew to type and read text, which may take longer than speaking and listening on the radio. Ground operators involved in the test also complete debrief forms afterward.
Decadal Survey Recommendations
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Analog Missions and Field Testing