Lunar habitation and exploration of space beyond low-Earth orbit will require small crews to live in isolation and confinement while maintaining a high level of performance with limited support from mission control. Astronauts only achieve approximately 6 h of sleep per night, but few studies have linked sleep deficiency in space to performance impairment. We studied crewmembers over 45 days during a simulated space mission that included 5 h of sleep opportunity on weekdays and 8 h of sleep on weekends to characterize changes in performance on the psychomotor vigilance task (PVT) and subjective fatigue ratings. We further evaluated how well bio-mathematical models designed to predict performance changes due to sleep loss compared to objective performance. We studied 20 individuals during five missions and found that objective performance, but not subjective fatigue, declined from the beginning to the end of the mission. We found that bio-mathematical models were able to predict average changes across the mission but were less sensitive at predicting individual-level performance. Our findings suggest that sleep should be prioritized in lunar crews to minimize the potential for performance errors. Bio-mathematical models may be useful for aiding crews in schedule design but not for individual-level fitness-for-duty decisions.

Efficiency, safety, feasibility, sustainability and affordability are among the key characteristics of future urban mobility. The project "HorizonUAM -Urban Air Mobility Research at the German Aerospace Center (DLR)" provides first answers to this vision by pooling existing competencies of individual institutes within DLR. HorizonUAM combines research about urban air mobility (UAM) vehicles, the corresponding infrastructure, the operation of UAM services, as well as public acceptance and market development of future urban air transportation. Competencies and current research topics including propulsion technologies, flight system technologies, communication and navigation go along in conjunction with the findings of modern flight guidance and airport technology techniques. The project analyses possible UAM market scenarios up to the year 2050 and assesses economic aspects such as the degree of vehicle utilization or cost-benefit potential via an overall system model. Furthermore, the system design for future air taxis is carried out on the basis of vehicle family concepts, onboard systems, aspects of safety and security as well as the certification of autonomy functions. The analysis of flight guidance concepts and the sequencing of air taxis at vertidromes is another central part of the project. Selected concepts for flight guidance, communication and navigation technology will also be demonstrated with drones in a scaled urban scenario. This paper gives an overview of the topics covered in the HorizonUAM project, running from mid-2020 to mid-2023, as well as an early progress report.

In recent years, civil drones have become increasingly present in the media and in everyday life. There has been a high level of interest in drone delivery from the very beginning, yet public acceptance of drone delivery still seems limited, with acceptance rates usually ranging from 30 to 40%. The present paper reports findings of a representative national study about the acceptance of civilian drones in Germany. Several factors limiting public support of drone delivery are identified, such as concerns about traffic safety, noise, and animal welfare. In addition, gender effects are discussed, showing female respondents to be more critical about drone delivery in general. Moreover, an effect of NIMBYism is confirmed in the context of drone delivery: Even residents who envision using drones for delivering their own parcels frequently state that they would not agree to flights over their own homes. This particular effect is termed ‘NOMOH’ (‘Not Over My Own Home’).

Civil drones are becoming ever more present in public perception. Ranging from parcel delivery to wildlife protection and from precision farming to law enforcement, many applications are said to have market-changing potential. Against this background, nations and institutions around the world are trying to keep up with the dynamic technological developments by means of rules and regulations. Since all parties involved expect a strong increase in both the number of drones and the range of their uses, there is a rising interest in the public acceptance of these vehicles. Widespread acceptance can promote the dissemination of new technologies. Conversely, citizens' concerns about the use of drones in their daily environment may pose barriers to the further proliferation of civil drones, especially in urban areas. The psychoacoustic properties of the vehicles have repeatedly been discussed as being one such limiting factor. This paper discusses results of a representative national study on the social acceptance of civil drones, taking a closer look at effects of information about drones as potential means to foster public acceptance. The findings underline the role of well planned information campaigns as well as community engagement in managing the contribution of drones in future urban soundscapes.