Task Progress:
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As NASA considers long-duration exploration missions (LDEMs), it is envisioned that crew will behave more autonomously as compared to low-Earth orbit missions. In this space environment, crew will have better and more timely insight as to how best to manage their own schedule, minimizing idle time as they wait for Mission Control Center (MCC) to respond or react to a delay in activity execution. Moreover, crew must be able to self-schedule—that is, reschedule their own timeline without creating violations. NASA currently has not characterized crew performance for self-scheduling; specifically, non-expert human performance for the task of planning and scheduling has not been characterized experimentally. The focus of this research is to quantify the crew performance envelope for the task of planning and scheduling as a function of plan complexity, and develop mitigations aimed at improving performance in the face of complex planning requirements. With regards to crew performance, we will study the relationship between planning efficiency, effectiveness, crew situation awareness, trust in planning software, and scheduling task complexity. Once a performance has been characterized, we will shift our research emphasis to develop and evaluate countermeasures that mitigate adverse effects on performance. These mitigations will be evaluated in analogs, and recommended countermeasures will be put forward if crew performance improves as compared to the baseline. Finally, based on research results, we will recommend corresponding standards and guidelines appropriate for autonomous crew in LDEMs.
For Year 4 (4/2022 – 4/2023), our research team continued analyses for our controlled lab experiment on human self-scheduling performance (completed in Year 2). In conjunction with the usability self-scheduling strategy study we did in Year 1, we identified self-scheduling strategies and heuristics used by participants to address scheduling problems. We found that, even when participants are instructed to follow a given strategy, they rapidly develop their own self-scheduling heuristics as they learn to successfully complete the task. Based on this research, future scheduling tools should support and enable the variety of emergent self-scheduling strategies. This will ensure that future astronauts may conduct self-scheduling, managing the nuanced changes in schedule and priority as they see fit. Future experiments may focus on training participants using different strategies in order to determine how these strategies quantitatively impact human performance in the scheduling task.
Based on our controlled lab experiment, we were also able to define a concrete, quantitative usability testing framework for future iterations of Playbook, our self-scheduling software platform. The dataset from this experiment can be used as a satisfaction baseline that future Playbook designs can be compared to, in order to preserve the positive user experience. Furthermore, we can now compare usability and satisfaction results from the NASA Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA) in the context of a controlled dataset.
During Year 3, we designed three countermeasure aids to support self-scheduling. In Year 4, we completed the implementation of the mixed-initiative scheduling aids and integrated them into our HERA Campaign 6 (C6) study. We deployed novel interface countermeasures and aids (“No-Go Zones” and “Suggested Fixes”) to evaluate effects on self-scheduling performance, workload, and usability in an analog setting.
By the end of Year 4, we will have collected all the data from our participation in HERA C6. Initial work has focused on post-processing data collected from Missions 1, 2, and 3. By far, the largest effort has been to analyze voice recordings. We transcribed and analyzed voice recordings during Campaign 6 to gain insight into timeline preference meetings and self-scheduling sessions. We are observing collaboration occurring during self-scheduling sessions, which was unexpected. Additionally, we are evaluating the novel psychometric called the “Plan Goodness” questionnaire, readying ourselves for refinements for HERA Campaign 7. Once all the data is collected, we will finish post-processing and analyzing HERA C6 data while preparing for HERA C7, where we will have the opportunity to increase our number of participants.
Finally, we have started the process of compiling necessary guidelines for mixed-initiative scheduling during long-duration exploration missions based on what we have learned from four years of research.
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Abstracts for Journals and Proceedings
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Marquez JJ, Sullivan D, Karasinski J. "The role of trust and usability to enable spaceflight crew autonomy." 2022 ASCEND (Accelerating Space Commerce, Exploration, and New Discovery), AIAA, Las Vegas, Nevada, October 24-26, 2022. Abstracts. 2022 ASCEND (Accelerating Space Commerce, Exploration, and New Discovery), AIAA, Las Vegas, Nevada, October 24-26, 2022. , Oct-2022
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Abstracts for Journals and Proceedings
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Marquez JJ. "Promoting astronaut autonomy in human spaceflight missions." NASA 2022 Summer Series, Mountain View, California, August 4, 2022. Abstracts. NASA 2022 Summer Series, Mountain View, California, August 4, 2022. https://www.nasa.gov/summerseries/2022/jessicamarquez , Aug-2022
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Articles in Other Journals or Periodicals
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Saint-Guillain M, Vanderdonckt J, Burny N, Pletser V, Vaquero T, Chien S, Karl A, Marquez J, Karasinski J, Wain C, Comein A, Casla IS, Jacobs J, Meert J, Chamart C, Drouet S, Manon J. "Enabling astronaut self-scheduling using a robust advanced modelling and scheduling system: An assessment during a Mars analogue mission." arXiv preprint server. Posted January 14, 2023. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2301.08248 , Jan-2023
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Books/Book Chapters
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Landon LB, Marquez JJ, Flynn-Evans E. "Spaceflight human factors: Enter the cosmos." in "Human Factors in Aviation and Aerospace." Ed. J.R. Keebler, E.L. Lazzara, K.A.Wilson, E.L. Blickensderfer. Cambridge, MA: Academic Press, 2023. p. 517-42. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-420139-2.00010-1 , Jan-2023
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Papers from Meeting Proceedings
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Marquez JJ, Karasinski JA, Zheng J, Bresina J, Shelat S. "Crew autonomy through self-scheduling: Guidelines for crew scheduling performance envelope and mitigation strategies." 2023 NASA Human Research Program Investigators’ Workshop, “To the Moon: The Next Golden Age of Human Spaceflight”, Galveston, TX, February 7-9, 2023. Abstracts. 2023 NASA Human Research Program Investigators’ Workshop, “To the Moon: The Next Golden Age of Human Spaceflight”, Galveston, TX, February 7-9, 2023. , Feb-2023
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Papers from Meeting Proceedings
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Karasinski J, Shyr MC, Torr A, Marquez JJ. "Exploring self-scheduling strategies and heuristics in novice schedulers." AIAA SciTech Forum 2023 (AIAA SciTech), National Harbor, MD, January 23-27, 2023. Abstracts. AIAA SciTech Forum 2023 (AIAA SciTech), National Harbor, MD, January 23-27, 2023. https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2023-1067 , Jan-2023
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Papers from Meeting Proceedings
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Shelat, S., Karasinski, J. A., Flynn-Evans, E. E., & Marquez, J. J. "Evaluation of user experience of self-scheduling software for astronauts: Defining a satisfaction baseline." 24th Human-Computer Interaction International Conference (HCII 2022), Virtual, June 26-July 1, 2022. HCII 2022. Lecture Notes in Computer Science. In: Harris D, Li WC. eds. Engineering Psychology and Cognitive Ergonomics. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2022. p. 433-45. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-06086-1_34 , Jun-2022
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Papers from Meeting Proceedings
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Karasinski JA, Zheng J, Yashar M, Marquez, JJ. "Integrating mission timelines and procedures to enhance situational awareness in human spaceflight operations." SpaceCHI 2.0: Advancing Human-Computer Interaction for Space Exploration, ACM Human-Computer Interaction (CHI) 2022 Workshop, Cambridge, MA, April 30-May 5, 2022. Abstracts. SpaceCHI 2.0: Advancing Human-Computer Interaction for Space Exploration, ACM Human-Computer Interaction (CHI) 2022 Workshop, Cambridge, MA, April 30-May 5, 2022. , May-2022
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Papers from Meeting Proceedings
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Marquez JJ, Shelat S, Karasinski J. "Promoting crew autonomy in a human spaceflight Earth analog mission through self-scheduling." 2022 ASCEND (Accelerating Space Commerce, Exploration, and New Discovery), AIAA, Las Vegas, Nevada, October 24-26, 2022. Abstracts. 2022 ASCEND (Accelerating Space Commerce, Exploration, and New Discovery), AIAA, Las Vegas, Nevada, October 24-26, 2022. , Oct-2022
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