Resilience Engineering for Exploration Space Missions: Designing Systems for an Underwater Space Analog

For NEEMO 21, the team of ERAU students from Human Factors, Aerospace Engineering, Electrical, Computer, Software, and Systems Engineering, and Commercial Space Operations to design the communication system and related procedures and training for the NEEMO crew. This team is being supported with technical expertise from an industry partner, Micro Aerospace Solutions (MAS), and NASA’s “Swamp Works” Engineering and Development Lab at Kennedy Space Center (KSC).

The overall objective is to employ principles of resilience engineering to develop a prototype LED-based communication system to determine optimal and maximum range and the feasibility of developing a more complex, laser-based system over the next several NEEMO missions. For NEEMO 21, there are three primary objectives:

1. Set up two (2) optical arrays, enclosed in waterproof containers, with one array attached to Aquarius and the second on a small tripod.

2. Conduct tests on range/strength of data link between two arrays at different distances to establish optimal and maximum distances.

3. Develop procedures (standard operating and contingency) and compare a digital version (with embedded contingency plans) against a more traditional document.

Regarding the first two objectives, two NEEMO astronauts, or “aquanauts,” will conduct a range test protocol during several extra-vehicular activities (EVAs) by moving one antenna array, attached to a small tripod, away from the second array, affixed to Aquarius, in 1-2 meter increments. With each increment, the other two astronauts will monitor and record signal strength from inside Aquarius.

For the third objective, a Human Factors PhD student will develop standard operating procedures for the communication system, the data link testing protocol, and the training materials to be administered to the NEEMO 21 crew the week before the mission. The procedures will include embedded contingency plans the crew can refer to when dealing with hardware or software anomalies. The goal is to show how providing the crew with more on-board resources for diagnosing and solving problems, instead of relying on Mission Support, can enhance team autonomy and adaptation when communication delays prohibit real-time support from Earth.