Opportunities:

For this research finding the Scoria team proposed the following opportunities:

• Operational updates could be communicated through other modalities, such as ambient displays informed by sensors.
• The word “standby” was used by BASALT team members when interrupted at inopportune moments. Non-vocal communication methods could be used to indicate availability instead.
• Filtering the EV voice communications could ensure only desired information was relayed to the science team. An EV might be more comfortable when verbalizing everything, but all of that information does not necessarily need to reach the science backroom.

The EV’s human experiential and perceptual data were not being captured in a permanent way

As demonstrated in the previous insight, experiential and perceptual descriptions provided the most uniquely human data. The Scoria team had observed and interviewed multiple experts putting in considerable effort to make cue cards to help prompt the EV for these descriptions. However, the Scoria team observed that these descriptions were often haphazardly and hurriedly transcribed by the BASALT science backroom and ultimately not referred to at all during the traverse.

The Scoria team found that human observations provided two distinct types of data. Perceptual data came from the EV’s direct descriptions of their surroundings. This was mainly informed by visuals, but other senses helped inform this as well. Meanwhile, experiential data came from the EV’s emotion and tone during their descriptions. This data, if transmitted effectively, helped the SBT empathize with the EV and better understand the importance and magnitude of observations.

The hurried attempts at voice transcription in the science backroom were low in quality and not accessible in a way that made the information salient to team members. As a result, during critical decision points, such as determining the leaderboard of what sites to sample during a traverse, the backroom ended up defaulting to image data. This essentially defeated the purpose of human exploration; image data is something that Mars robots are already capable of providing to scientists. However, capturing human perceptual and experiential data is very difficult. It is not directly quantifiable, it varies from person to person, and it requires a highly effective shared vocabulary.

Crew members assumed knowledge and understanding, resulting in varying mental models

The inherent setup of analog practice missions involves a team of professionals with a very diverse set of expertise. Transference of this knowledge amongst teammates is critical to a successful mission. The Scoria team observed some knowledge sharing at the BASALT practice mission, but there were many instances in which team members experienced misunderstandings of basic, foundational information.

As the Scoria team found early on from interviews, diverse teams of experts develop problems of assumed knowledge. With a high level of respect for one another’s intelligence, few people think to stop and explain the rationale behind certain decisions, while others do not think to stop and question them.

The Scoria team observed this phenomenon during the BASALT practice mission. For example, crew members had several discussions aimed at clarifying whether a geological exploration site was five meters in diameter or five meters in radius. The team also observed considerable confusion surrounding the required amount of rock sample to be collected, due to subjective and culturally dependent metrics such as “baseball-sized” and “softball-sized”.

While these discrepancies in understanding were seemingly small, they could have potential consequences. If one of these misunderstandings occurred during a time-sensitive traverse, an EV could easily collect an insufficient amount of sample, rendering it completely useless for proper scientific analysis. Moreover, the human ability to “flexecute” during a traverse could really only occur with a deep understanding of the scientific goals. Without this understanding, the EV would struggle to adapt to the new environment.

Mission aids were beneficial to the EV in “Execution Mode” but a hindrance in “Discovery Mode”

Mission aids included items to guide the EV in a formulaic way, such as cue cards, checklists, and GPS trackers. The Scoria team observed that they were appropriate tools for an EV to use in “execution mode”, when the goal was to complete a task efficiently, much like a robot. However, the Scoria team observed that team members in the EV role felt the need to follow mission aids to perfection. This anxiety prevented the EV from engaging in “discovery mode”, when the goal was to observe their surroundings for areas of interest.

The Scoria team learned that when an execution-oriented aid was put in front of someone, the person tended to follow it with precision, even when dealing with a discovery-oriented activity. During one of the BASALT traverses, the EV felt the need to follow a guided walking path with great accuracy even though it was merely a suggestion. He might have missed an interesting rock on the side as a result of putting his focus to staying on the path.

In addition, the majority of all mission aids designed for the analog missions were designed for “execution mode” only. For example, the BASALT team built a guideline on how to approach unplanned sites of interest. However, even this discovery-oriented information was presented as an execution-style cue card. The Scoria team conceded that “discovery mode” aids might be more difficult to design due to their less prescriptive nature. But since “flexecution” is such an important human attribute, the absence of these aids presented a rich opportunity for future designs.