This framework can be applied to the design, development, and implementation of automated machines in spaceflight, military, and health care settings. We present a hypothetical example in our write-up of how it can be used to aid in project success.

The present study experimentally manipulated the gender of an email sender, closing salutation, and sending mode (i.e., email sent via desktop computer/laptop as compared with email sent via a mobile device) to determine if these specific cues influence first impressions of the sender’s competence, professionalism, positive affect, and negative affect. Although no effect of sending mode was found, closing salutation influenced perceptions; females were viewed as less professional when using “Thanks!” as opposed to using “Best,” “Thank you,” or no salutation. However, in general, females were viewed as more professional than males, and “Thanks!” elicited perceptions of positive affect.

Teams today often integrate the unique expertise of members in order to achieve performance and safety goals not possible by individuals alone, while facing challenges of operating in complex, diverse, and dynamic environments. However, simply relying on team member's expertise is not enough to produce effective teams. The science of team effectiveness has much to offer in regards to our understanding of developing and maintaining effective teamwork and safe behaviors, cognitions and attitudes in complex situations. Drawing upon the current state of the science, we provide an organizing heuristic of critical considerations that should be addressed by those involved in the use of expert teams to enable team success. We further offer scientifically driven guidance regarding ways in which teams can enhance safety based on these considerations. Specifically, the 7 C's synthesize the extant literature on effective teams to help guide organizations in diagnosing and developing teams in environments where performance reliability is paramount. The components of teamwork within this framework emphasize the role of six key team processes as well as one influencing condition. Taken together, these six characteristics of effective teamwork and their influencing conditions are used for practical guidance that will improve safety through teamwork. They essentially allow people to act as individuals, each with their own specialty and talent, while simultaneously enticing them to act cohesively to identify and close potential gaps and risky behavior.

Long-duration exploration missions (LDEMs) in space rely on the coordinated efforts of a large, dynamic, and global multi-team system (MTS) that crosses organizational, geographic, cultural, and temporal boundaries. A key role in the spaceflight MTS is the leader who connects or spans the boundaries between distinct teams and supports the development of team cognition. The purpose of the present paper is to provide recommendations on how to train “boundary spanner” leaders and the tools they use to coordinate and communicate with teams in the context of a LDEM MTS. To this end, we address four specific questions focused on 1) how the MTS will change for future missions, 2) identifying the primary boundary spanners, 3) identifying the key attitudes, behaviors, and cognitions (ABCs) for effective boundary spanners, and 4) communication technologies to support the development of team cognition in the MTS. Results indicate six critical boundary spanner roles in the NASA Mission Control Center and 12 ABCs that should be trained. We conclude with concrete recommendations for NASA and its partners to empirically test different training approaches and commercial task management tools the MTS can use to improve communication efficiency and accuracy.

Long-duration space missions pose many challenges to the health of the crew and success of the overall mission. In addition to hazards of the space environment, such as radiation exposure and the effects of microgravity on the human body, poor interactions between crewmembers can result in tension, conflict, or degraded performance. Although scientists have learned a great deal about how to reduce the effects of physical hazards to the crew, few studies have examined ways to monitor the functioning of the crew during a long-duration mission in order to avoid breakdowns in crew performance. This research had two goals. First, we collected data on crew function and performance by administering a battery of behavioral and performance measures to a seven-person crew, comprised of five undergraduate students and two graduate students, during a 2-week mission to the Mars Desert Research Station in Winter 2013. Second, this setting provided a unique opportunity for human factors students to develop a research protocol and then collect data in a field setting. Each study addressed different ways to support crew psychological health in long duration spaceflight.The goals of this research were twofold. First, we sought to test several measures of crew function and performance at an Earth-based simulation of the Mars environment. The Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) is operated by the Mars Society and located at an isolated location in Utah. Each year, six-person crews spend between 2 to 4 weeks at the facility, which includes an enclosed habitat, a greenhouse, and allterrain vehicles, to simulate living and working on Mars. Crews are isolated from the outside world and communicate with offsite mission control personnel.In addition to evaluating the crew function measures, we also used this unique opportunity of spending 2 weeks at the MDRS as a learning experience. Each student on the crew was responsible for developing his or her own individual research project and then devising an experimental protocol for collecting data at this isolated location. In general, this research not only addressed a significant challenge for longduration space crews by evaluating measures to support and monitor crew functioning and performance for future missions, but human factors students were able to conduct their own study in a realistic simulation of life on Mars. BACKGROUND