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NASA NTRS2015

Mission Control Operations: Employing a New High Performance Design for Communications Links Supporting Exploration Programs

The planetary exploration programs demand a totally new examination of data multiplexing, digital communications protocols and data transmission principles for both ground and spacecraft operations. Highly adaptive communications devices on‐board and on the ground must provide the greatest possible transmitted data density between deployed crew personnel, spacecraft and ground control teams. Regarding these requirements, this proposal borrows from research into quantum mechanical computing by applying the concept of a qubit, a single bit that represents 16 states, to radio frequency (RF) communications link design for exploration programs. This concept of placing multiple character values into a single data bit can easily make the evolutionary steps needed to meet exploration mission demands. To move the qubit from the quantum mechanical research laboratory into long distance RF data transmission, this proposal utilizes polarization modulation of the RF carrier signal to represent numbers from zero to fifteen. It introduces the concept of a binary‐to‐hexadecimal converter that quickly chops any data stream into 16‐bit words and connects variously polarized feedhorns to a single‐frequency radio transmitter. Further, the concept relies on development of a receiver that uses low‐noise amplifiers and an antenna array to quickly assess carrier polarity and perform hexadecimal to binary conversion. Early testbed experiments using the International Space Station (ISS) as an operations laboratory can be implemented to provide the most cost‐effective return for research investment. The improvement in signal‐to‐noise ratio while supporting greater baseband data rates that could be achieved through this concept justifies its consideration for long‐distance exploration programs.

Jackson, Dan E., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS2008

Rapid Biochemical Analysis on the International Space Station (ISS): Preparing for Human Exploration of the Moon and Mars

The Lab-on-a-Chip Application Development - Portable Test System, known as LOCAD-PTS, was launched to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-116) on December 9th,2006. Since that time, it has remained onboard ISS and has been operated by the crew on 10 separate occasions LOCAD-PTS is a handheld device for rapid biochemical analysis; it consists of a spectrophotometer, a series of interchangeable cartridges, a pipette and several clean/sterilized swabbing kits to obtain samples from ISS surfaces. Sampling, quantitative analysis and data retrieval is performed onboard, therefore reducing the need to return samples to Earth. Less than 20 minutes are required from sampling to data, significantly faster than existing culture-based methods on ISS, which require 3-5 days. Different cartridges are available for the detection of different target molecules (simply by changing the formulation within each cartridge), thereby maximizing the benefit and applications addressed by a single instrument. Initial tests on ISS have focused on the detection of the bact.erial macromolecule endotoxin, a component of bacterial cell walls. LOCAD-PTS detects endotoxin with a cartridge that contains a formulation known as Limulus Amebocyte Lysate (LAL) assay. LAL is derived from blood of the horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus, and detects enodotoxin with an enzyme cascade that triggers generation Of a yellow colored dye, p-nitroanaline. The more p-nitroanaline product, the more endotoxin is in the original sample. To enable quantitative analysis, the absorbance of this color is measured by LOCAD-PTS through a 395 nm filter and compared with an internal calibration curve, to provide a reading on the LED display that ranges from 0.05 Endotoxin Units (EU)/ml to 5 EU/ml. Several surface sites were analyzed within ISS between March 2007 and February 2008, including multiple locations in the US Laboratory Destiny, Node 1 Unity, AMock, and Service Module Zvezda. The goals of this initial study were to i) test the cleanliness of reagents/supplies on orbit, ii) test the crew's ability to collect and process a sample in microgravity without contamination, iii) demonstrate nominal function of the LOCAD-PTS, and iv) provide a general survey of endotoxin within the ISS. The surface sites varied greatly in terms of their frequency-of-use and material texture/composition; from relatively smooth aluminum, to fabric, to the room temperature vulcanizing (RTV) rubber of a Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) spacesuit. Results showed that: i) the swabbing kits and reagents remained clean on orbit, ii) the crew could collect and process a sample without contamination, and iii) the LOCAD-PTS functioned nominally in > 99% of the 55 tests completed. We will present detailed results of the survey of endotoxin on ISS surfaces. These results and technology are important in the near-term - by providing an extra tool in the toolbox for ISS microbial monitoring. They are also important in the longer term as valuable preparation for human exploration of the Moon and Mars. One of the proposed science goals for the human exploration of Mars will be to detect and characterize any indigenous biological molecules that may exist on the Martian surface. To achieve that goal, the crew must have the technology available onboard to differentiate indigenous biology from any terrestrial biological material brought to Mars by the spacecraft and crew (termed 'forward contamination'). The LAL assay is already one of the official methods used by NASA's planetary protection program to certify cleanliness of interplanetary robotic spacecraft prior to launch; and therefore endotoxin is a good marker of forward contamination (as well as other microbial molecules detectable with LOCAD-PTS e.g. box-1, 3-glucan and lipoteichoic acid). Furthermore, the distribution and abundance of these molecules on the ISS provides a good indicator of what to expect on the Crew Exploratioehicle Orion, the lunar lander Antares, and future crewed spacecraft destined for Mars. In addition, technology such as LOCAD-PTS has been proposed to help evaluate forward contamination during lunar surface operations by the crew, as preparation for the human exploration of Mars.

Maule, J.↗

NASA NTRS2015

Crew Transportation System Design Reference Missions

Contains summaries of potential design reference mission goals for systems to transport humans to andfrom low Earth orbit (LEO) for the Commercial Crew Program. The purpose of this document is to describe Design Reference Missions (DRMs) representative of the end-to-end Crew Transportation System (CTS) framework envisioned to successfully execute commercial crew transportation to orbital destinations. The initial CTS architecture will likely be optimized to support NASA crew and NASA-sponsored crew rotation missions to the ISS, but consideration may be given in this design phase to allow for modifications in order to accomplish other commercial missions in the future. With the exception of NASA’s mission to the ISS, the remaining commercial DRMs are notional. Any decision to design or scar the CTS for these additional non-NASA missions is completely up to the Commercial Provider. As NASA’s mission needs evolve over time, this document will be periodically updated to reflect those needs.

potential design reference↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Crew Time Requirements in Future Space Greenhouses: What Can We Infer from Current Analog and Space Missions?

Efficient crop production will be required to advance humanity’s presence in space, and for this, accurate predictions of crew time in future space greenhouse modules will be crucial to design and operate these plant growth systems, and schedule crop production. Crew time estimates will also be critical for deciding priorities of automating different aspects of space crop production. Because it is difficult to capture in operational environments, crew time for plant cultivation has only been sporadically recorded in past analog and space missions. We propose a methodology for efficient categorizing and reporting of crew time in space plant growth systems: first identify the different tasks needed to operate the greenhouse module, second define a representative time period for data collection, third accurately report crew time for individual tasks - and their occurrence, and fourth use collected data to improve greenhouse modules and plant growth system designs. Using data from various analog facilities and from the Veggie hardware on ISS, and assumptions for different mission scenarios, we discuss how crew time for plant cultivation can be reduced with adequate choices of crops, automation, artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual assistants, and sufficient crew training. This has major implications for the design of future space greenhouse modules. For example, missions on future space stations or during interplanetary travel would save significant crew time by including leafy greens and microgreens for astronaut’s diet supplement, with automated watering, health and environmental checks, as well as AI managing maintenance schedules, and a virtual assistant for repair activities. This work was funded by NASA Space Biology through NASA postdoctoral program / USRA, by NASA’s Space Biology and Human Research Programs, and by the European Union Horizon 2020 program via the COMPET-07-2014 - Space exploration – Life-support subprogram (reference number: 636501).

Veggie↗

NASA NTRS2018

Maintaining Human Health for Humans-Mars

The Human Health Research Program states that Radiation is the most challenging hazard to human spaceflight beyond LEO. The International Space Station provides an analog for evaluating techniques for dealing with Altered Gravity, the Radiation Environment of the ISS is only about 45% of the deep space values where radiation due to Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCR) dominate the spectrum. The Moon and cis-lunar space are being considered as a Mars Analog training ground for preparing crews for human mission to Mars. Spending more than 200 days in deep space is considered unsafe based on our current proxy for lifetime radiation dose. The paper outlines a way forward for spending days training near the Moon and for completing roundtrip missions to Mars while remaining below the current proxy. In the first case, a GCR overcoat shields crews from radiation during cis-lunar activities before making fast transits without in-space GCR overcoats to and from Mars. This case requires continued maturation of low TRL propulsion and power technologies currently around 4 to 5 while depending on repeatable reductions in launch costs by a factor of 6 expected of current reusable rockets. The second case requires no new technology development except for the expectation that the next near-term generation of reusable rockets will reduce launch costs by a factor of around 14. Five trajectories and GCR overcoat sizes for all mission legs are presented herein to illustrate the opportunities to maintain human health for Humans-Mars missions.

Robert W Moses↗

NASA NTRS2014

Rodent Research on the International Space Station - A Look Forward

Rodent Research on the International Space Station (ISS) is one of the highest priority science activities being supported by NASA and is planned for up to two flights per year. The first Rodent Research flight, Rodent Research-1 (RR-1) validates the hardware and basic science operations (dissections and tissue preservation). Subsequent flights will add new capabilities to support rodent research on the ISS. RR-1 will validate the following capabilities: animal husbandry for up to 30 days, video downlink to support animal health checks and scientific analysis, on-orbit dissections, sample preservation in RNA. Later and formalin, sample transfer from formalin to ethanol (hindlimbs), rapid cool-down and subsequent freezing at -80 of tissues and carcasses, sample return and recovery. RR-2, scheduled for SpX-6 (Winter 20142015) will add the following capabilities: animal husbandry for up to 60 days, RFID chip reader for individual animal identification, water refill and food replenishment, anesthesia and recovery, bone densitometry, blood collection (via cardiac puncture), blood separation via centrifugation, soft tissue fixation in formalin with transfer to ethanol, and delivery of injectable drugs that require frozen storage prior to use. Additional capabilities are also planned for future flights and these include but are not limited to male mice, live animal return, and the development of experiment unique equipment to support science requirements for principal investigators that are selected for flight. In addition to the hardware capabilities to support rodent research the Crew Office has implemented a training program in generic rodent skills for all USOS crew members during their pre-assignment training rotation. This class includes training in general animal handling, euthanasia, injections, and dissections. The dissection portion of this training focuses on the dissection of the spleen, liver, kidney with adrenals, brain, eyes, and hindlimbs. By achieving and maintaining proficiency in these basic skills as part of the nominal astronaut training curriculum this allows the rodent research program to focus the mission specific crew training on scientific requirements of research and operations flow.

Experimental capabilities↗

NASA NTRS2011

Status of Commercial Programs at NASA

NASA's strategy is two-fold: (1) Use Space Act Agreements to support the development of commercial crew transportation capabilities. (2) Use FAR-based contracts for the certification of commercially developed capabilities and for the procurement of crew transportation services to and from the ISS to meet NASA requirements. Focus is on reducing the risk and uncertainties of the development environment and on the incentives provided through competition by separating the design and early development content from the longer-term CTS Certification activities. CCP expects to develop, demonstrate, and certify U.S. commercial crew space transportation capabilities that meet ISS crew transportation needs by the end of FY 2017.

Groen, Frank↗

NASA NTRS2017

The Effects of Long-Duration Spaceflight on Training Retention and Transfer

Training our crew members for long duration, exploration-class missions will have to maximize long-term retention and transfer of the trained skills. The expected duration of the missions, our inability to predict all the possible tasks the crew will be called upon to perform, and the low training-to-mission time ratio require that the training be maximally effective such that the skills acquired during training will be retained and will be transferrable across a wide range of specific tasks that are different from the particular tasks used during training. However, to be able to design training that can achieve these ambitious goals, we must first understand the ways in which long-duration spaceflight affects training retention and transfer. Current theories of training retention and transfer are largely based on experimental studies conducted at university laboratories using undergraduate students as participants. Furthermore, all such studies have been conducted on Earth. We do not know how well the results of these studies predict the performance of crew members. More specifically, we do not know how well the results of these studies predict the performance of crew members in space and especially during long-duration missions. To address this gap in our knowledge, the current on-going study seeks to test the null hypothesis that performance of university undergraduate students on Earth on training retention and transfer tests do in fact predict accurately the performance of crew members during long-duration spaceflights. To test this hypothesis, the study employs a single 16-month long experimental protocol with 3 different participant groups: undergraduate university students, crew members on the ground, and crew members in space. Results from this study will be presented upon its completion. This poster presents results of study trials of the two tasks used in this study: a data entry task and a mapping task. By researching established training principles, by examining future needs, and by using current practices in spaceflight training as test beds, this research project is mitigating program risks and generating templates and requirements to meet future training needs.

ISS↗

NASA NTRS2002

NASA Research Announcement

This paper presents viewgraphs of NASA's strategic and fundamental research program at the Office of Biological and Physical Research (OBPR). The topics include: 1) Colloid-Polymer Samples; 2) Pool Boiling Experiment; 3) The Dynamics of Miscible Interfaces: A Space Flight Experiment (MIDAS); and 4) ISS and Ground-based Facilities.

Chiaramonte, Fran↗

NASA NTRS2012

A Proposed Strategy for the U.S. to Develop and Maintain a Mainstream Capability Suite ("Warehouse") for Automated/Autonomous Rendezvous and Docking in Low Earth Orbit and Beyond

The ability of space assets to rendezvous and dock/capture/berth is a fundamental enabler for numerous classes of NASA fs missions, and is therefore an essential capability for the future of NASA. Mission classes include: ISS crew rotation, crewed exploration beyond low-Earth-orbit (LEO), on-orbit assembly, ISS cargo supply, crewed satellite servicing, robotic satellite servicing / debris mitigation, robotic sample return, and robotic small body (e.g. near-Earth object, NEO) proximity operations. For a variety of reasons to be described, NASA programs requiring Automated/Autonomous Rendezvous and Docking/Capture/Berthing (AR&D) capabilities are currently spending an order-of-magnitude more than necessary and taking twice as long as necessary to achieve their AR&D capability, "reinventing the wheel" for each program, and have fallen behind all of our foreign counterparts in AR&D technology (especially autonomy) in the process. To ensure future missions' reliability and crew safety (when applicable), to achieve the noted cost and schedule savings by eliminate costs of continually "reinventing the wheel ", the NASA AR&D Community of Practice (CoP) recommends NASA develop an AR&D Warehouse, detailed herein, which does not exist today. The term "warehouse" is used herein to refer to a toolbox or capability suite that has pre-integrated selectable supply-chain hardware and reusable software components that are considered ready-to-fly, low-risk, reliable, versatile, scalable, cost-effective, architecture and destination independent, that can be confidently utilized operationally on human spaceflight and robotic vehicles over a variety of mission classes and design reference missions, especially beyond LEO. The CoP also believes that it is imperative that NASA coordinate and integrate all current and proposed technology development activities into a cohesive cross-Agency strategy to produce and utilize this AR&D warehouse. An initial estimate indicates that if NASA strategically coordinates the development of a robust AR&D capability across the Agency, the cost of implementing AR&D on a spacecraft could be reduced from roughly $70M per mission to as low as $7M per mission, and the associated development time could be reduced from 4 years to 2 years, after the warehouse is completely developed. Table 1 shows the clear long-term benefits to the Agency in term of costs and schedules for various missions. (The methods used to arrive at the Table 1 numbers is presented in Appendices A and B.)

Krishnakumar, Kalmanje S.↗

NASA NTRS2018

Astrobee Guest Science Interface

At the end of 2018, Astrobee will launch three free-flying robots that will navigate the entire US segment of the ISS (International Space Station) and serve as a payload facility. The mechanical and electrical interfaces are now established and several payloads are being developed. Payload Interface: Astrobee is designed to host third party guest science program payloads (GSP payloads). Some GSP payloads may be software only, such as the Zero Robotics Finals Competition, which is currently hosted on SPHERES, and which will transition to Astrobee in 2019. Several GSP payloads with custom hardware, such as the Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Logistics Reduction and Repurposing (LRR) Project RFID reader, are already under development. These payloads will attach in the Astrobee payload bay.

Barlow, J.↗

NASA NTRS2016

Closed Loop Control Compact Exercise Device for Use on MPCV

Long duration space travel to Mars or to an asteroid will expose astronauts to extended periods of reduced gravity. To combat spaceflight physiological deconditioning, astronauts will use resistive and aerobic exercise regimens for the duration of the space flight to minimize the loss of bone density, muscle mass and aerobic capacity that occurs during exposure to a reduced gravity environment. Unlike the International Space Station (ISS), the mass and volume available for an exercise device in the next generation of spacecraft is limited. Therefore, compact exercise device prototypes are being developed for human in the loop evaluations. The NASA Human Research Program (HRP) is managing Advanced Exercise Concepts (AEC) requirements development and candidate technology maturation for all exploration mission profiles from Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) exploration missions (e.g., EM-2, up to 21 day) to Mars Transit (up to 1000 day) missions. Numerous technologies have been considered and evaluated against HRP-approved functional requirements and include flywheel, pneumatic and closed-loop microprocessor-controlled motor driven power plants. Motor driven technologies offer excellent torque density and load accuracy characteristics as well as the ability to create custom mechanical impedance (the dynamic relationship between force and velocity) and custom load versus position exercise algorithms. Further, closed-loop motor-driven technologies offer the ability to monitor exercise dose parameters and adapt to the needs of the crewmember for real time optimization of exercise prescriptions. A simple proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller is demonstrated in a prototype motor driven exercise device with comparison to resistive static and dynamic load set points and aerobic work rate targets. The resistive load term in the algorithm includes a constant force component (Fcmg) as well as inertial component (Fima) and a discussion of system tuning is presented in terms of addressing key functional requirements and human interfaces. The device aerobic modality is modelled as a rowing exercise using ground data sets obtained from Concept 2 rowers as well as competitive rowing1. A discussion of software and electronic implementations are presented which demonstrate unique approaches to meeting the constrained mass, volume and power requirements of the MPCV. . In addition to utilizing traditional PID control, controllers utilizing state feedback with gains solved using a Linear Quadratic Regulator will be developed. Controllability and observability will be utilized to investigate the need for state measurement in the design. As the control system directly interacts with human test subjects, robust methods such as H-infinity are also being investigated.1. Kleshnev V. Biomechanics. In: Rowing, Handbook of Sports Medicine and Science. ed. by Secher N., Voliantis S. IOC Medical Commission, Blackwell Pub. pp. 22-34, 2007

microgravity↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

PLANNING FOR VEG-05 TOMATO CROP PRODUCTION ON THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION

Growing fresh, nutritious, palatable produce for crew consumption during spaceflight may provide health-promoting, bioavailable nutrients and enhance the astronaut dietary experience as we move toward longer-duration missions. Tending plants may also serve as a countermeasure for crew psychological stresses associated with spaceflight. However, requirements to support consistent growth of a variety of nutritious crops under spaceflight environmental conditions remain unclear. This study explores the potential to grow crops for consumption on the International Space Station (ISS) using the Veggie vegetable-production system. Mizuna mustard was grown during VEG-04 studies in 2019, and human and plant data from those tests continue to be analyzed. Tomato plants will be grown for the VEG-05 experiment, and preflight definition studies are underway to ascertain the best hardware and operations for growing this fruiting crop. The variety of tomato selected for this study is ‘Red Robin’, a compact cherry tomato. Plants will be grown under two different red: blue lighting treatments using the Veggie units on ISS, and the impact of spectral quality on plant growth and yield, nutrient content, organoleptic acceptability, and microbial composition of the tomatoes will be assessed. Preliminary testing with this crop helped to identify responses to different analog types of growth hardware including both plant pillows and Passive Orbital Nutrient Delivery System (PONDS) units, and current testing is focusing on flight-like versions of this hardware. Challenges with fertilizer salts leaching out into the plant wicks and burning the stems of tomato were observed in earlier tests, so amended fertilizer and wick configurations have been developed. Crew procedures including plant thinning, watering, height adjustment with respect to lighting, and pollination are being validated. VEG-05 will be the first test of tomato fruit production on ISS. Lessons learned during preparation and implementation of the VEG-04 mizuna test for watering, and a separate ISS investigation with peppers (PH-04) in the Advanced Plant Habitat (APH) in terms of fertilizer, plant wicks, and pollination, will be adapted for this experiment. This research was co-funded by the Human Research Program and Space Biology (MTL#1075) in the ILSRA 2015 NRA call.

Veggie↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Planning for VEG-05 Tomato Crop Production on the International Space Station

Veggie↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

The International Space Station Lightning Imaging Sensor (ISS LIS): An Overview of More Than Five Years of Science and Operations, With a Look Toward the Future of Spaceborne Lightning Observations

- ISS LIS is the flight spare of the original Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) LIS, which was kept in storage since the 1990s. - Modified and then integrated as a hosted payload on DoD Space Test Program-Houston 5 (STP-H5). Launched on SpaceX CRS-10 on February 19, 2017. - LIS measures global lightning (amount, rate, radiant energy) during day and night, with storm-scale resolution, millisecond timing, and high, spatially uniform detection efficiency.

Lightning↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

HRP Data Management Plan

The purpose of Human Research Program Data Management Plan (DMP) is to define the processes and activities required for the overall management of the research data collected and managed by HRP throughout their life cycle. New updates to the Data Management Plan in 2023 include 1. CAPABILITIES AND SERVICES Data Repositories. Principal Investigators (PIs) funded by HRP may be asked to submit data to one of several NASA data repositories. HRP archives data in the NASA Life Sciences Portal (NLSP) that it considers to be unique and high value. This includes data from human subjects in space flight (ISS and commercial flights) and ground analogs to spaceflight; spaceflight tech demos involving humans; human omics data including the microbiome; parabolic flight studies; and the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory (NSRL). The Open Science Data Repository (OSDR) includes The Ames Life Sciences Data Archive (ALSDA), used to archive non-human biological data (e.g., animal) generated by the Human Research program, and GeneLab, available to HRP PIs to archive non-human omics data. Catalog for search and retrieval. A catalog of non-human HRP life science experiments, with all associated descriptions (mission, payload, hardware, and personnel related information), and biospecimens is provided on the NLSP public web site for search and retrieval. 2. IRB ROLE IN RETURN OF INDIVIDUAL RESEARCH RESULTS The NASA IRB manages the process for incidental findings and for returning results to subjects for studies for which NASA IRB is the IRB of record. Omics data, especially genomics data, may generate information significant to the health of or risk to a research subject. These data potentially hold the keys to understand lifetime risks of chronic diseases, such as cancer, as well as risks associated with exposures common in space flight. 3. UPDATE OF TERMS – IDENTIFIABLE AND ATTRIBUTABLE DATA HRP now follows Federal and NASA policy by using “identifiable” instead of “attributable” for Personally Identifiable Information (PII). 4. POLICY ABOUT INTERNAL NON-RESEARCH USE OF DATA The HRP Chief Scientist grants access to data from HRP-funded research for non-research internal use that includes program management, customer facilitation, strategic planning, and risk research planning. Typical HRP personnel granted access to HRP research data for internal use include the Element Scientist, Subject Matter Experts (SME), and Data/bioinformatics Scientists. If data accessed for Internal Use is provided to an intramural or extramural scientist for hypothesis driven research, all Federal and NASA regulations (e.g., IRB review) regarding human subject research apply.

Data Management Plan↗

NASA NTRS2000

Clock Technology Development in the Laser Cooling and Atomic Physics (LCAP) Program

This paper presents the Laser Cooling and Atomic Physics (LCAP) program. It focuses on clock technology development. The topics include: 1) Overview of LCAP Flight Projects; 2) Space Clock 101; 3) Physics with Clocks in microgravity; 4) Space Clock Challenges; 5) LCAP Timeline; 6) International Space Station (ISS) Science Platforms; 7) ISS Express Rack; 8) Space Qualification of Components; 9) Laser Configuration; 10) Clock Rate Comparisons: GPS Carrier Phase Frequency Transfer; and 11) ISS Model Views. This paper is presented in viewgraph form.

Seidel, Dave↗

NASA NTRS2002

INTEGRITY - Integrated Human Exploration Mission Simulation Facility

It is proposed to develop a high-fidelity ground facility to carry out long-duration human exploration mission simulations. These would not be merely computer simulations - they would in fact comprise a series of actual missions that just happen to stay on earth. These missions would include all elements of an actual mission, using actual technologies that would be used for the real mission. These missions would also include such elements as extravehicular activities, robotic systems, telepresence and teleoperation, surface drilling technology-all using a simulated planetary landscape. A sequence of missions would be defined that get progressively longer and more robust, perhaps a series of five or six missions over a span of 10 to 15 years ranging in duration from 180 days up to 1000 days. This high-fidelity ground facility would operate hand-in-hand with a host of other terrestrial analog sites such as the Antarctic, Haughton Crater, and the Arizona desert. Of course, all of these analog mission simulations will be conducted here on earth in 1-g, and NASA will still need the Shuttle and ISS to carry out all the microgravity and hypogravity science experiments and technology validations. The proposed missions would have sufficient definition such that definitive requirements could be derived from them to serve as direction for all the program elements of the mission. Additionally, specific milestones would be established for the "launch" date of each mission so that R&D programs would have both good requirements and solid milestones from which to .build their implementation plans. Mission aspects that could not be directly incorporated into the ground facility would be simulated via software. New management techniques would be developed for evaluation in this ground test facility program. These new techniques would have embedded metrics which would allow them to be continuously evaluated and adjusted so that by the time the sequence of missions is completed, the best management techniques will have been developed, implemented, and validated. A trained cadre of managers experienced with a large, complex program would then be available.

Henninger, Donald L.↗