Design Implications of Latent Challenges to the Long-Duration Space Mission

Abstract

While expansion of space industry engineering standards over any human factors interface, except the humantechnology interface, is a still a relatively new topic (Dudley-Rowley & Bishop, 2002), even rarer still is the consideration of the latent challenges of long-duration space missions. A latent challenge in this venue could be a social, behavioral, or a natural or human-engineered environmental phenomenon. Manifest challenges to long-duration spaceflight are numerous enough, with mission planners, managers, and engineers taking into account obvious things like spacecraft operations, communications difficulties, having enough onboard resources, and protection of crew from an airless, microgravity environment fraught with radiation and other hazards. Latent challenges are harder to grasp. A latent challenge is any item, aspect, component, or process that potentially poses difficulties in the performance of mission objectives, but is something about which not much is known. However, a mission to Mars is a long-duration space mission that is a significantly different experience than a tour-of-duty of the same duration aboard a space station in full view of Earth, with easier access to new or needed equipment, more supplies, or even returnability. Social and behavioral phenomena in such an extreme environment could generate their own set of latent challenges. What steps could the crew take to ensure a high level of group functioning and minimize the impact to the accomplishment of mission objectives? How might design offset latent challenges on long-duration space missions? This report attempts to catalog the types of latent challenges that could pose difficulties to the longduration space mission, and then gives a multidisciplinary perspective of how design could respond to these challenges.

An Astrosociological Approach to Defining Indigenous Martian Architecture

“…We seek to examine sustainable Mars settlement, and therefore, our conceptualizations about habitat design for Mars, against a human timeline. In "Globalization of Space" (2007), 15 Dudley-Flores and Gangale have already explored the various political, social, economic, and technological events that have or will likely unfold that pertain to the public and political will to go to Mars, the likely transformation of capital and technological means of production according to alternate energy sources, emergent reasons to explore and develop the solar system, and the techno-economic impacts to Earth.. As yet unexamined by all the authors in any depth is the sequence of sustainability events leading to Mars settlement that will specifically drive human architecture on Mars. In this report, we have applied ecological-evolutionary (EE) design driver concerns in the construction of our timeline.…”

“…From left to right, the first two models clearly bear a kinship. An in-depth comparison of Man-in-a-Can and Quality of Life design models can be found in "Design Implications of Latent Challenges to the Long-Duration Space Mission" (Dudley-Rowley, Okushi, Gangale, Flores, and Diaz 2003). 1 Briefly, Man-in-a-Can design characterizes the type of space mission we have seen to date -shuttle missions, Moon shots, and space station tours of duty.…”

“…These latent challenges may outweigh follow-on exploration. Such latent challenges and their design implications have been detailed in Dudley-Rowley, Okushi, Gangale, Flores, and Diaz (2003 Source. "The tractors were constantly on the move, 24 hours a day, and only stopped when they reached fuel caches where they refilled their tanks with diesel fuel.…”

The Mir Crew Safety Record: Implications for Space Colonization

“…This study is consistent with methodological themes advocated by the author elsewhere that 1) social and behavioral phenomena are natural phenomena and 2) all human factors interfaces of long-duration spaceflight need to be addressed in systematic ways (Dudley-Rowley 1999, Dudley-Rowley, Bishop, Farry, and Gangale 2000, Dudley-Rowley, Whitney, Bishop, Caldwell, and Nolan 2001, Dudley-Rowley and Bishop 2002, Dudley-Rowley, Okushi, Gangale, Flores, and Diaz 2003). [6][7][8][9] Would the systematic construction of Cohen's and Junge's Human Factors Interaction Model relate to actual events aboard the Mir? And, how robustly predictive would it be?…”

Forecasting the Political Economy of the Inner Solar System

“…48 As we have written elsewhere, if space tourism would mature to where a low Earth orbit (LEO) hotel could open for business, the boundaries of quality of life in space would be defined. 49 The minimal man in a can model was meant for short-duration spaceflight but remains the model seen on various spacecraft and space stations so far over longer durations. As a result, a lot of mission time is spent on maintenance and housekeeping-so much so that these activities dig into science mission time budgets.…”