NOTE: End date changed to 9/30/2016 per NSSC information (Ed., 7/18/16)

NOTE: End date is now 6/30/2016 per NSSC information (Ed., 6/8/15)

NOTE: Period of performance corrected to 9/5/2012-9/4/2015 per NSSC information (Ed., 4/4/2013)

The study participants included three astronauts on the ISS (two American crewmembers and one European crewmember) and 18 participating mission support personnel who were asked to perform 10 tasks (6 without a delay in communication and 4 with a 50-second one-way delay) during a mission lasting more than 160 days. The tasks performed by the teams varied along two dimensions: 1) those that are either critical or not critical (“criticality”) and 2) those that are either novel or familiar (“novelty”). Tasks included variations in both dimensions as it was assumed that highly novel and highly critical tasks are similar to those that a team may encounter during a long duration mission in which they have no prior training but must address. After each task, participating ISS crewmembers and mission support personnel were asked to complete post-task questionnaires that included questions about individual and team behavior, performance, and mood. This study provided a preliminary understanding of the impact of communication delays on individual and team performance and well-being, as well as insight into how teams perform and interact under autonomous conditions in the analog environment most comparable to deep space.

Post-task assessments were completed by participating astronauts 100% (22/22) of the time, and by participating mission control personnel 83.3% of the time (15/18). Qualitative analysis of post-mission interviews found the study to be important and acceptable to the three astronauts. However, they also reported the study was limited in the number and type of tasks included, limitations in survey questions, and preference for open-ended to scaled items.

Crew well-being and communication quality were significantly reduced in communication delay tasks compared to control. Communication delays were also significantly associated with increased stress/frustration. Qualitative data suggest communication delays impacted operational outcomes (i.e., task efficiency), teamwork processes (i.e., team/task coordination), and mood (i.e., stress/frustration), particularly when tasks involved high task-related communication demands, either because of poor communication strategies or low crew autonomy. Training, teamwork, and technology-focused countermeasures were identified to mitigate or prevent adverse impacts.

Results from this study suggest task novelty may moderate the relationships between communication delays and individual and crew performance, and communication quality. However, contrary to our expectations, the inverse relationships between communication delays and crew performance and communication quality were stronger in low compared to high novel tasks. Furthermore, there was a trend for individual performance to improve in communication delay compared to control conditions in high novel tasks. In low novel tasks, participants may have assumed a shared situational model was established, and thus, in the absence of any formal communication delay training, may have inappropriately used minimal or ambiguous responses while performing the task. For example, one crewmember described his experience performing a standard weekly cleaning activity (low novel) with a communication delay, “So you call down and you ask them (mission support team) to disable smoke detection, and then you kind of forget that you even called…And then a minute later a call comes up and just says, OK, smoke detection has been disabled. And the crew is like, well I don’t know, is it Node 1, is it Node 3, what did we even call for?” On the other hand, team members may have been more engaged in and complete with their communications while performing highly novel tasks, and this proactive approach may have mitigated potential adverse impacts. Furthermore, qualitative feedback from the ISS crewmembers indicated detailed task procedures were provided for some of the high novel tasks. For example, one crewmember stated, “For each complicated step, we had short videos embedded in the procedures to help us. I think those were critical to our overall execution of the task.” Accordingly, detailed task procedures may mitigate or prevent adverse impacts of communication delays on individual and team outcomes during deep space explorations.

In contrast, task criticality did not moderate the relationship between communication delays and performance, crew morale, communication quality, or task autonomy in the current study. There was however, a trend towards a main effect of task criticality on task autonomy, suggesting ISS crewmembers felt they had more autonomy when they performed low compared to high critical tasks. Apart from the small sample size, the lack of a statistically significant interaction between communication delays and task criticality may be attributed to a number of factors, including the short communication delay interval, the type and number of tasks studied, and/or the format and number of survey items administered.

Since qualitative data suggested high task-related communication demands contributed to adverse impacts of communication delays, exploratory analyses were conducted to explore whether these relationships were also observed in the quantitative data. Results from this study suggest task-related communication demands may moderate the relationships between communication delays and individual and team outcomes. Specifically, the inverse association between communication delays and crew and team performance, and communication quality was stronger when tasks required high compared to low task-related communication demands.

Furthermore, task autonomy decreased in communication delay compared to control conditions when tasks involved a high, but not low level of task-related communication demands. Collectively, the qualitative and quantitative data suggest communication delays were more likely to negatively impact individual and team outcomes when tasks involve high levels of task-related communication; accordingly, countermeasures that reduce back-and-forth communications, either by increasing crew autonomy or improving communication strategies, may mitigate or prevent adverse impacts.

NOTE: End date changed to 9/30/2016 per NSSC information (Ed., 7/18/16)

NOTE: End date is now 6/30/2016 per NSSC information (Ed., 6/8/15)

NOTE: Period of performance corrected to 9/5/2012-9/4/2015 per NSSC information (Ed., 4/4/2013)

The proposed study will involve the 3 USOS astronaut participants aboard the ISS during Increment 39/40, as well as the CAPCOMs and Flight Directors on duty during the 4 weeks of the increment during which data collection will take place. While this sample should be adequate to demonstrate feasibility of data collection and enable preliminary analyses of study hypotheses, 3-4 additional increments may be required to achieve sufficient power to test all study hypotheses. During the planned 180 days of Increment 39/40, participants will perform 16 tasks, 8 under conditions of no delay in communications, and 8 under conditions of a 10 minute one-way delay. Tasks will be designated by subject matter experts (SMEs) in collaboration with the Mission Operations directorate (MOD) for monitoring based on their level of novelty (high/low) and criticality (high/low).

• However, finding sufficient number of tasks that meet study criteria is a significant challenge to conducting such a study. Data collection will in all likelihood require more increments to achieve adequate sample size. Greater flexibility in study criteria and more time is required to educate potential study participants are needed.

• Study participants were in agreement as to importance of study and there was little difficulty with recruitment of participants. However, MCC concern about impact of study on certain operations, the Astronaut Office concern about astronaut willingness to provide certain types of information in standardized formats, and astronaut concerns about relevance of certain items on questionnaires represent important challenges to conducting a study of this nature. As a result, quantitative data on perceived stress and social support are lacking.

• Communications delay was associated with understanding what was communicated.

• Being understood by others was significantly associated with autonomy, individual and team performance and team well-being.

• Total communications quality was associated with autonomy, team performance and well-being.

• Crew performance and well-being were associated with communications delay in low critical tasks.

• Autonomy was associated with crew and team performance and crew well-being, but did not mediate the relationship between communications delay and these outcomes.

• Post-flight interviews with astronauts revealed evidence of stress and frustration in completing tasks under conditions of communications delay due to difficulties in getting answers in a timely fashion with certain tasks (Cargo Ops, housekeeping) because it resulted in an additional delay in getting the information needed to complete the task, when one party does not understand and they have to ask questions. Participants also acknowledged impacts on task performance including delays in task completion and anticipated difficulties with completing certain tasks under conditions of communications delay. Behavioral changes that occurred included asking longer and more detailed questions, discussions with other crewmembers before making a call to Mission Control, more interaction between crewmembers because ground personnel could not be used as a crewmate, less interaction of ground would affect mood and feelings of camaraderie, and CAPCOM would slow down pace of communication and make more repeated calls. Other distractions included: location – communication more difficult in some parts of ISS than others, a condition referred to as ‘Space brain” – affected comprehension and memory, and other crewmembers yelling down questions during calls.

NOTE: End date is now 6/30/2016 per NSSC information (Ed., 6/8/15)

NOTE: Period of performance corrected to 9/5/2012-9/4/2015 per NSSC information (Ed., 4/4/2013)

The proposed study will involve the 3 USOS astronaut participants aboard the ISS during Increment 39/40, as well as the CAPCOMs and Flight Directors on duty during the 4 weeks of the increment during which data collection will take place. While this sample should be adequate to demonstrate feasibility of data collection and enable preliminary analyses of study hypotheses, 3-4 additional increments may be required to achieve sufficient power to test all study hypotheses. During the planned 180 days of Increment 39/40, participants will perform 16 tasks, 8 under conditions of no delay in communications, and 8 under conditions of a 10 minute one-way delay. Tasks will be designated by subject matter experts (SMEs) in collaboration with the Mission Operations directorate (MOD) for monitoring based on their level of novelty (high/low) and criticality (high/low).

In collaboration with MCC, study investigators identified 16 tasks to be performed, 8 during a 1-2 week period early in the mission and 8 to be performed during a 1-2 week period late in the mission. The tasks were selected on the basis of criticality and novelty (low criticality-low novelty, high criticality-low novelty, low criticality-high novelty, and high criticality-high novelty). Candidate tasks were identified by MCC and then reviewed by study investigators.

Data collection for the early phase of the increment was initiated during the week of June 16. Procedures to implement the 50-second one-way delay were pilot tested. Completion of tasks under conditions of delay and no delay to date have occurred without incident, and astronaut and MCC participants have been completing post-task questionnaires as requested.

NOTE: Period of performance corrected to 9/5/2012-9/4/2015 per NSSC information (Ed., 4/4/2013)

The proposed study will involve the 3 USOS astronaut participants aboard the ISS during Increment 39/40, as well as the CAPCOMs and Flight Directors on duty during the 4 weeks of the increment during which data collection will take place. While this sample should be adequate to demonstrate feasibility of data collection and enable preliminary analyses of study hypotheses, 3-4 additional increments may be required to achieve sufficient power to test all study hypotheses. During the planned 180 days of Increment 39/40, participants will perform 16 tasks, 8 under conditions of no delay in communications, and 8 under conditions of a 10 minute one-way delay. Tasks will be designated by subject matter experts (SMEs) in collaboration with the Mission Operations directorate (MOD) for monitoring based on their level of novelty (high/low) and criticality (high/low).

NOTE: Period of performance corrected to 9/5/2012-9/4/2015 per NSSC information (Ed., 4/4/2013)

The proposed study will involve the 3 USOS astronaut participants aboard the ISS during Increment 35/36, as well as the CAPCOMs and Flight Directors on duty during the 4 weeks of the increment during which data collection will take place. While this sample should be adequate to demonstrate feasibility of data collection and enable preliminary analyses of study hypotheses, 3-4 additional increments may be required to achieve sufficient power to test all study hypotheses. During the planned 180 days of Increment 35/36, participants will perform 16 tasks, 8 under conditions of no delay in communications, and 8 under conditions of a 10 minute one-way delay. Tasks will be designated by subject matter experts (SMEs) in collaboration with the Mission Operations directorate (MOD) for monitoring based on their level of novelty (high/low) and criticality (high/low).