Mission operations – enhancing the success of analogue missions through the Remote Science Support (RSS)

Analogue missions serve as valuable models for simulating and testing scenarios for human space exploration in a terrestrial environment. The success of these missions relies on the seamless collaboration of diverse teams, each playing a crucial role in different phases of the mission lifecycle.  Among those teams the Remote Science Support (RSS) group, stationed at the Mission Support Center (MSC), stands out as an anchor connecting experts, scientists, and mission control center with analogue astronauts in the field.

The RSS plays a pivotal role in supporting Principal Investigators (PIs) throughout the entirety of the pre-mission, in-mission, and post-mission phases. During the pre-mission phase, the RSS team collaborates closely with PIs to fine-tune experiment parameters, ensuring their alignment with mission objectives and the unique challenges posed by analogue environments. The RSS team serves as a critical liaison, facilitating seamless integration of experiments into the analogue mission framework. In the synchronous (syn) mission phase, RSS operates in near real-time, providing immediate guidance and insights to astronauts as they execute experiments. This dynamic support ensures the optimization of decision-making processes and the resolution of mission-critical issues. Transitioning to the post-mission phase, RSS continues its support by facilitating data validation and scientific post-processing. By offering valuable insights and analysis, RSS assists PIs in refining future experiments and advancing their research agendas. This comprehensive support across pre, syn, and post-mission phases underscores the integral role of RSS in maximizing the scientific yield and success of analogue missions.

Communication delays, technological constraints, and the need for adaptable protocols present challenges for RSS. Recognizing the importance of these challenges, this study identifies strategies for mitigating them, emphasizing the need for interdisciplinary collaboration. Effective communication between the RSS team, Mission Support Center, and on-field astronauts becomes significant for overcoming these challenges. Continuous refinement of mission operations procedures is essential to ensure that the RSS remains a dynamic and responsive support system throughout the mission lifecycle.

The findings presented, contribute to the growing body of knowledge on analogue missions and underline the fundamental role of RSS in advancing human space exploration capabilities. As space agencies and research institutions continue to invest in analogue missions as a precursor to actual space expeditions, optimizing RSS mechanisms becomes paramount for achieving mission success and ensuring the safety and productivity of future astronauts.