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Understanding the factors influencing crew performance under conditions of long-term isolation, confinement, high workload and elevated risk is an important prerequisite to the manned space exploration missions beyond low-Earth orbit that are planned under the new National Space Policy of the United States. Quantitatively tracking the performance of crews affected by those stressors is therefore crucial both during actual space missions and as part of precursor activities on the ground, such as those taking place at planetary-analog simulation facilities. During the summer of 2003, an experiment was carried out tracking the cognitive performance of the crew on board such a facility, the Mars Society’s “Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station” in the Canadian High Arctic. In addition to the self-administered computer-based testing, the crew’s daily activities were logged to enable the identification of external factors that might affect the observed performance.

To allow for the assessment of synergistic subsystem interactions during the conceptual design phase of manned spacecraft and space stations, an existing software tool was improved to permit integrated modeling and simulation of a space station's life support system and attitude and orbit control system. This facilitates early estimation of potential reductions in resupply mass - and life-cycle cost - as well as the assessment of increases in operational flexibility through incorporation of synergisms into the conceptual design. The created interactive tool is based on a user-friendly graphical programming language and can therefore be used by conceptual designers and engineering students alike.

The preparation of manned space exploration missions beyond Earth orbit requires precursor activities such as integrated space mission simulations at dedicated Earth-based analog facilities. In recent years, the Mars Society, with the support of private donors, has built several of these facilities. The lessons learned by the crews simulating planetary exploration activities on board those stations are generating a body of knowledge that can make a significant contribution to the design and operation of future planetary bases, as well as improve the next generation of such simulation facilities. Drawing from the author’s first-hand experience as a crewmember during the 2003 field season at the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station, the Mars Society’s analog simulation facility on Devon Island in the Canadian High Arctic, this paper provides a compilation and first analysis of the crew’s experience.

The Aerospace Systems Design Laboratory at the Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, has recently created the “Collaborative Design Environment” (CoDE), a next-generation design facility supporting efficient, rapid-turnaround conceptual design. The CoDE combines cost-effective, off-the-shelf information technology with advanced design methodologies and tools in a customized, user-centered physical layout that harnesses the power of creative design teams. The CoDE will enable researchers to develop, test and apply new approaches to conceptual design, and to improve modeling and simulation fidelity. It will also support sponsored design projects as well as student teams participating in national design competitions.