Date of Award

August 2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Aerospace Sciences

First Advisor

Pablo de León

Abstract

Due to the vast distances between Earth and other planets, future human interplanetary missions will experience significant communication delays. The literature suggests that a combination of training, protocols, procedures, and tools is required to mitigate the negative impact that the communication delay has on both stress and performance. This research introduces a tool called ECHO that combines known and novel features designed to make users cognizant of the delay and avoid misunderstandings. ECHO was tested as part of a mixed-methods study over the course of three analog missions at the University of North Dakota's Integrated Lunar/Mars Habitat where a total of nineteen crew members and mission controllers filled out surveys and participated in post-mission interviews. The results suggest that the progress bar used to visualize messages in transit was effective in reducing stress and improving performance, while other features, such as the out-of-sequence indicator and conversation threads, did not show as much impact.

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