Human-centered AI for Crew-autonomous Space Mission Planning

Research Overview

In this project, we explored how artificial intelligence can support astronaut planning, scheduling, and execution during long-duration space missions where communication delays reduce real-time support from Earth. Through qualitative interviews with NASA subject matter experts involved in Playbook, we identified key challenges in mission planning, adaptation, and human-AI collaboration, and derived design implications for AI-assisted space mission systems.

Research Objectives

1. Understand the challenges astronauts and planners face in mission planning and contingency replanning during communication-delayed missions
2. Examine how NASA subject matter experts and mission-planners perceive the role of AI in planning, scheduling, and execution workflows
3. Identify human-centered design implications for integrating AI without displacing human judgment in safety-critical contexts
4. Propose future research directions for AI-assisted systems that better support crew autonomy and resilience in long-duration exploration missions

Contributions