Timing is Everything: Issues of Disparate Temporal Regimes in Space Operations

The problem of scheduling mission personnel on multiple shifts and multiple planetary times is a problem that has to be solved well ahead of longer-duration advanced unmanned systems and human space exploration. That is because it has a make or break effect on possible mission designs. It is certainly a problem that has to be solved before human crews are sent to Mars because then, the safety issues become even more complex and the risks multiply with humans operating in base and field configurations. This problem resembles rotating shift schedules in air traffic control and other venues. However, it is different because of the scheduling involving different planetary diurnal interfaces, distance lag preventing instantaneous two-way communications, and an unique problem, faced every 780 days on average, when Mars is in solar conjunction with Earth. At such time, mission controllers and Mars crews would not be able to communicate, up to about three weeks. The communication blackout would occur as the third-quarter in mission elapsed time was beginning on conjunction class missions by Hohmann Transfer -just as crews were halfway through Mars surface operations. Given what we know about a psychosocial nuisance known as third-quarter phenomenon that has plagued extreme environmental expeditions from their mid-points in their mission elapsed times till the beginning of their final quarter, a communications blackout for several weeks would be still another danger for mission controllers and Mars crews. The authors’ research draws from data from JPL Mars rovers’ mission controller experiences, from severe and extreme environments records (including the space exploration record), and from the astrodynamics of various scenarios. The issues of disparate temporal schedules of mission controllers and robotic rovers and human space crews is a safety/health concern that will acquire larger importance as humans freight longer-duration space exploration. Some considerations of interest to mission controllers are meal times, sleep patterns, partial sensory deprivation, changing commute patterns, and social/family interactions. Add to the mix, the requirements of the mission “in the field.” These requirements are expected to change according to implications of the configuration of mission fielded, i.e., expected duration of the mission, number and placement of vehicles, their unique technologies, fixed facilities or roving, robotic or human, etc. These considerations drive scheduling decisions for mission managers, future mission planners, and other stakeholders, and overall, for the performance of exploration/science.