NASA: Manned mission to Mars

[LionHart]

Scientists aim to equip manned crews to Mars with innovative devices that keep track of social interactions and provide instant feedback when conflict and other troubles regarding teamwork emerge.

NASA plans to send the first humans to Mars sometime in the next quarter-century. Such a mission will push the boundaries of teamwork for the handful of astronauts selected, as they will have to spend as long as three years isolated together in a tiny capsule traveling through the harsh dangers of space toward the Red Planet and back. Any problems in teamwork could jeopardize the mission.

To help maintain teamwork during a mission to Mars, scientists are developing devices aimed at monitoring astronauts in real time to learn how and why cooperation fluctuates over the course of a mission. [The Boldest Mars Missions in History]

"The intended purpose of the technology and analytics we are developing is to help the team be more aware and attuned so team members can effectively regulate their teamwork," said Steve Kozlowski, lead investigator on the project and an organizational psychologist at Michigan State University in East Lansing. "Good teamwork will be essential to the success of long-duration space missions. We are developing tools so the team can manage their interactions well, identify potential problems, and resolve them before they become problematic."

Kozlowski and his colleagues have for years investigated how scientific teams get along when serving for long periods in isolated, confined and extreme conditions similar to what astronauts encounter. For example, in Antarctica, they ask team members to write diaries for five to 10 minutes every day for anywhere from six weeks to nine months, documenting events that spur teamwork or conflict.

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"For example, in one study, negative spikes in team cohesion were associated with a couple of team members not wanting to share the workload; positive spikes were associated with celebration," Kozlowski said. "It's not rocket science, but it shows how small, even trivial things can influence the ability of a team to be effective. Mere rudeness can inhibit performance."

Ideally, however, Kozlowski and his collaborators would like automated ways to see how teams are doing in real-time.

"One of the key limitations of social science is its heavy reliance on self-reported questionnaires where people retrospect and report on what they perceived or felt about a target person or event," Kozlowski said. This method is obtrusive, relies on memory, which can be fallible, and is vulnerable to what questions are asked and how those questions are asked, he explained.

The researchers are now developing badgelike devices for astronauts that researchers aim to shrink down to the size of a smartphone. The badges would unobtrusively measure a number of factors about the astronauts, such as heart rate, body motion, what they say and how they say it, their proximity to other crew members and the amount of face time between crew members.

"These new technologies will revolutionize the very nature of social science, how it is conducted, and what insights it can offer with respect to human interaction," Kozlowski said.

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For instance, the devices could tell if a team member gets loud or turns away from a conversation suddenly, activity that, when done repeatedly, could signal a problem. Once the badges help identify a concern, they would then wirelessly relay that data to, for example, the crew member, the crew leader, or the entire team.

"The intent is to make the technology part of good teamwork, not to create a 'Big Brother' that is watching from the outside," Kozlowski said.

Scientists have worked on developing these devices for three years now. NASA recently awarded the project $1.2 million for another three years. This brings total funding from the space agency for the project to $2.5 million.

A rudimentary version of these badges can now run for a few hours and has proved effective at accurately and consistently collecting data in a lab setting. The researchers now want to make sure its packaging and power system are robust enough for use in simulations of space missions.

"One such analog, HERA, is housed at the Johnson Space Center — it is a habitat that simulates a capsule for flight or remote work on Mars. One- to two-week simulations are planned, and we intend to evaluate the badges in that setting," Kozlowski said. "Another habitat is called HI-SEAS that runs simulated Mars exploration missions. We intend to evaluate in that setting as well. Ultimately, we may be able to do some evaluation in the Antarctic, but that is further off."

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These badges could help advance science outside of space research.

"Organizations may be interested in how knowledge is shared, how innovation emerges; the badges could help illuminate that process," Kozlowski said. "They could also be used for more mundane but no less important tasks like monitoring the elderly at home — how's grandma doing?"

Full Link: http://news.yahoo.com/manned-mars-missions-astronauts-along-221231578.html


-LionHart

[¿m☺ÿ]

if i'm not mistaken, i think this is the supposed technology that they will be using to send a bunch of people to mars with no return ticket... i mean, when they send them there, the possibility of coming back is not really being discussed...its like building a colony there. Anyhow, hope they will succeed....its a good breakthrough. thanks for sharing

[xxxchoholic Rai ♥]

if i'm not mistaken, i think this is the supposed technology that they will be using to send a bunch of people to mars with no return ticket... i mean, when they send them there, the possibility of coming back is not really being discussed...its like building a colony there. Anyhow, hope they will succeed....its a good breakthrough. thanks for sharing

yup sa tingin ko nga yan yun

colony plan nila dati na sinasabi nice share sa ts

sana nga magsucceed itong  mission na toh

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[blackboxrecorder]

Good share thanks

[LionHart]

http://youtu.be/7gV7LX0tLDw

TIME Magazine investigates the ambitious one-way trip being offered by the Mars One project

[Prime™]

All I know is they have to make it much much cheaper. The last time a human being was in the moon was in the 70's. it's extremely costly. Anyway, Space: the final frontier as a wiseman had once said.


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[bohica]

Bring food and water. Lots of it.


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[LionHart]

Plants can be grown hydrophonically. But yeah, the biggest challenge will be the source of potable water.


-LionHart

[fayt]

One way trip to mars?

They need to send people who survive much less food and almost no water to drink... Almost no life in mars...

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[charliehouse]

Nope its not a one way trip as clarified by NASA however such proposal was shot straight to the bin by stup*d lawmakers and politicians.

[Itachi101]

sure na ba
na may technology na tayo
para dyan baka naman kailangan pa natin ng another 30-50 years
sa advancement ng technology natin

[charliehouse]

sure na ba
na may technology na tayo
para dyan baka naman kailangan pa natin ng another 30-50 years
sa advancement ng technology natin

Yes we already have, the problem lies with the politicians who makes the budget appropriations masyadong makitid at gamunggo ang utak.

[01_segundo]

If this happen, it would be groundbreaking. But,Maraming problems for this mission. Anjan ang radiation sa space. Bka on the way pa lng, mgkasakit na ang mga tao. Then, fuel problem. Mars is millions of miles away from earth. So kailangan madame fuel na kailangan. Sa food and other supplies.,pwede naman nila i send un in advance pra pag dating ng tao sa mars, me supply na sila.

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[charliehouse]

If this happen, it would be groundbreaking. But,Maraming problems for this mission. Anjan ang radiation sa space. Bka on the way pa lng, mgkasakit na ang mga tao. Then, fuel problem. Mars is millions of miles away from earth. So kailangan madame fuel na kailangan. Sa food and other supplies.,pwede naman nila i send un in advance pra pag dating ng tao sa mars, me supply na sila.

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Radiation from space? may radiation naman sa lahat ng sulok ng mundo eh. Food is not an issue sa mga space missions please take note na may prior training na ang mga susubok sa mission. Fuel is not really the problem, all they have to do is calculate...

[01_segundo]

Radiation from space? may radiation naman sa lahat ng sulok ng mundo eh. Food is not an issue sa mga space missions please take note na may prior training na ang mga susubok sa mission. Fuel is not really the problem, all they have to do is calculate...

Yes. May radiation dito sa earth, but because of our atmosphere and earths magnetic field.,minimal lng ang nararanasan natin. Mars also has an atmosphere and mf.Radiation on the way to mars ang binabangit ko. Remember curiosity? It is equip with a toaster sized device known as radiation assesment detector (rad). On its 253 days, 563 million km trip, scientist turn on the rad, para malaman nila kung anung level ng radiation ang mararanasan on its way to mars. Based on the measurements they received on rad, scientist published on the science journal that astronauts may experience 2/3 of a sievert. Here on earth, we humans receive 1/1000 of a sievert per year.
Ksma na dun ung mga xrays and ct scans na maeexperience natin.
Regarding sa fuel problems, take note that almost 90% of initial weight of conventional space craft is fuel. And it is heavy and expensive. There are some alternative like solar-electric or nuclear electric energy, pero mas mabagal ang propulsion nila because it creates less power. So mas tatagal ang trip, mas tatagal ang exposure ng tao sa radiation.

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