The Georgia Institute of Technology has been working with NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) since April 2009 on an extension of the Autonomous Landing and Hazard Avoidance Technology (ALHAT) project. The thesis work titled, “Quantitative Assessment of Human-System Interaction on Landing Trajectory Design” aims to provide quantitatively-derived design heuristics for landing point designation (LPD). LPD is an opportunity for the onboard crew and automation to select a final landing spot. This research will address human-machine work allocation design decisions posed by proposed future missions to Mars, the lunar South Pole, and nearby asteroids. We are particularly interested in astronaut interactions with two LPD flight modes: a low- and a high-level of automated assistance.

We would like to solicit members of the Astronaut Corps as participants in this study. We are requesting sixteen astronauts and sixteen helicopter pilots to spend an hour performing the LPD task in the Reconfigurable Operational Cockpit (ROC) in Building 16N. Preference will be given to Commanders and Pilots, but all astronauts will be accepted. Each session – one per pilot – will learn how to use the simulator apparatus, perform the LPD task over a variety of scenarios, and undergo a debriefing. During the debriefing, the participants will be asked to describe the strategy used to pick a final landing site and what elements contributed to this decision-making process.

The testing period is August 1 - 22, 2012. For more information regarding this study, please contact Ms. Zarrin Chua at zarrin@gatech.edu.

The six pictures are satellite photographs of the landing areas used in this experiment.