NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
The Cooling Loop A Anomaly of 2013: A Case Study in Human-Systems ResilienceThroughout the history of human spaceflight, NASA has employed an operational paradigm of 24/7 dependence on experts in Mission Control Center (MCC). In addition to nominal flight control and mission operations, these 85+ experts per shift manage anomaly detection, diagnosis, and response, and support the crew in real-time in performing maintenance and repair, procedure execution, and other complex mission operations. Future long-duration exploration missions (LDEMs) beyond low-Earth orbit (LEO) will not operate successfully using this same Human-Systems Integration Architecture (HSIA) where crew rely on ground controllers, have ready access to resupply, and have a fallback plan of evacuation. As distance from Earth increases and the communication delay grows, crews will need to respond independently and adequately to time-critical vehicle malfunctions. It will not always be sufficient or even possible to ‘safe the system’ and then wait upon ground intervention. A new and radically different HSIA is needed to accommodate the paradigm shift of deep-space travel.
Historical International Space Station (ISS) data show that for a 30-day mission, the likelihood of a high-consequence vehicle anomaly of uncertain origin that requires rapid response is greater than 10%. The likelihood of such an event is 50% by the fourth month of the mission, and it grows exponentially with time. Our team has conducted in-depth investigations into these events and their corresponding anomaly resolution activities. Using MCC and Mission Evaluation Room (MER) anomaly resolution artifacts (including meeting summaries, caution and warning data, and ISS daily summaries), we created timelines detailing ground actions and in-orbit events for two significant anomalies. We then mapped these timelines onto Mars transit conditions, introducing a ground-crew communications time delay and shifting immediate response, time-critical task execution, and vehicle commanding to the crew. In detailing successful anomaly resolution in transit to Mars, the timelines highlight where effective resolution requires drastically evolved onboard capabilities.
Though this research has yielded a rich data set based on ground response in past missions, there is still insufficient knowledge to assess the potential impact of inflight anomalies on a small autonomous crew on future LDEMs beyond LEO. To begin building an evidence base that will inform future HSIA standards and requirements, we are developing an approach to systematically capture crew anomaly response and procedure execution during early Artemis missions. Being the first human spaceflight beyond LEO since Apollo, early Artemis missions provide a rare and unique opportunity to serve as a testbed for Mars missions. Our work aims to capitalize on planned data collection to derive crew operational responses to anomalous events in real-time. Our team is also researching the level of simulation fidelity required for empirically validating proposed HSIA standards and evaluating HSIA implementations for LDEMs beyond LEO. This work will produce a trade space study of HSIA simulation objectives and fidelity requirements. Ultimately, these research efforts will assist in developing the standards and technologies needed to build a next-generation HSIA for LDEMs beyond LEO.
Document ID
20220000545
Acquisition Source
Ames Research Center
Document Type
Video
Authors
T L Panontin
(San Jose State University San Jose, California, United States)
S C Wu
(San Jose State University San Jose, California, United States)
M E Parisi
(San Jose State University San Jose, California, United States)
K R McTigue
(San Jose State University San Jose, California, United States)
A H Vera
(Ames Research Center Mountain View, California, United States)
Date Acquired
January 25, 2022
Publication Date
February 7, 2022
Subject Category
Man/System Technology And Life Support
Meeting Information
Meeting: Human Research Program Investigators' Workshop
Location: virtual
Country: US
Start Date: February 7, 2022
End Date: February 10, 2022
Sponsors: National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Funding Number(s)
WBS: 344494.01.01.10
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNX17AE07A
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
Technical Review
NASA Peer Committee
Keywords
human-systems integration architecture

Available Downloads

NameType HSIA IWS.mp4 STI
No Preview Available