Search Results

This study presents a projected crew task timeline and skill mix for the exploration of the lunar surface in the Habot mobile lunar habitat. It takes the approach of defining crew task sets for crews of 8, 6, and 4, crewmembers to carry out proportionate amounts of work, corresponding to how many crewmembers are on the mission. It provides for the division of responsibilities between crewmembers who perform EVA and IVA tasks, and between those who go on an excursion away from the base and those who remain at the base. A particular feature of the model is that the amount of time devoted to science is set as a constant -- an inviolable amount of crew time that normal maintenance and operations work cannot erode. The importance of this capability arises from the International Space Station experience in which sometimes only 100 crew-minutes per day, or even less, has been available for science.

A study is discussed that seeks to collect baseline data from the International Space Station (ISS) Simulator, and in so doing, construct a measuring instrument to assess social states (group functioning) in the extreme environment, as proposed originally by social psychologist Irwin Altman. Six indicators with discrete values would be sampled among crews: 1) numbers of communicative modes, 2) unique communications, 3) efficient communication, 4) cuing behaviors, 5) informal behaviors, and 6) personal evaluations communicated to one another. The indicators would be charted chronologically and on profile at regular intervals, permitting the prediction of psychosocially nominal and off-nominal behaviors. The results of the study can be easily meshed with findings of other studies for a potentially powerful statement about future ISS group functioning.