Skip to content

ESDMD #1002: Autonomous Monitoring for Exploration Missions

Software that monitors crew health, crew systems and vehicle systems on its own, so crews can act without waiting for the ground (bin 4, rating 34 of 57). ISS relies on ground monitoring with at most about an 8-second delay. Onboard autonomous monitoring today needs "large and heavy processors and extensively pre-programmed decision algorithms" (Tech gaps spreadsheet, ESDMD #1002).

Quotations below are from row ESDMD #1002 of the tech gaps spreadsheet unless marked otherwise. ADD Rev C's Appendix D prints the same table for this gap, and it matches the row field for field (ADD Rev C, p. 248).

Description

"Improvement is needed in software capability for remote and autonomous monitoring to provide situational awareness and inform follow-on decision-making in increasingly Earth-independent operations. Applications include monitoring crew health, crew system health, and vehicle system health, and enabling safe, effective autonomous operations."

Impacts and benefits: "Without gap closure, health and performance assessment will be limited or poorly informed, and the probability of loss of an entire system would increase, which would represent a risk to crew and mission."

Current state of the art

"ISS crew largely relies on ground support for remote monitoring with max ~8-second time delay. Autonomous monitoring requires large and heavy processors and extensively pre-programmed decision algorithms."

Performance target

  • Moon/Mars: "Enable autonomous monitoring of systems and crew that support human exploration, progressing toward Mars-distance communication delays and blackouts."
  • Mars: "In addition, increased autonomy, reliability, and communication delays compared to the lunar performance target."

Child gaps

  • 1002-01: Autonomous monitoring software
  • 1002-02: High-performance processors for deep space missions

The title of 1002-02 also appears as 0202-01, 0805-02 and 1004-01, unstarred each time (open questions, item 14). The ADD prints all four unstarred too (ADD Rev C, pp. 209, 240, 248, 250, PDF checked), so by D.1's definition each is a child gap with one parent.

Traceability

  • Use cases and functions: UC-A-201 L -- FN-A-301 L; UC-A-301 L -- FN-A-302 L; UC-A-403 M -- FN-G-401 M; UC-A-404 M -- All FN
  • Definition tasks: Mars: MD-12 Maximum Allowable Crewed Communications Disruption; Priorities for Crew vs. Robotic Tasks Strategy
  • Cross-reference: FN-A-302 L, "Provide safeguards for automated asset(s) operating near crew", is also one of the Users Guide's Phase 1 functional gaps (Users Guide, p. 8; see Phase 1 functional gaps). This link joins the two sources; neither makes it. The same use case–function pair (UC-A-301 L -- FN-A-302 L) also appears under #1004 and #1005.

Segments and sub-architectures

Priority

Priority bin 4, overall prioritization rating 34 of 57. The rating is "the gap's location in the prioritized list of gaps", so 1 is the highest priority, and bins group gaps of similar priority, bin 1 highest. Criticality, urgency, breadth and depth set the order; cost is not considered (ADD Rev C, pp. 78, 199; method on the gaps index).

Moon Base relevance

Not established by the sources so far. The Users Guide does not name #1002 among its near-term Moon Base challenges (Technology and knowledge challenges). Two passages touch the same subject without citing this gap:

  • A Phase 1 habitation capability target: "Demonstrate Earth-independent operations" (Users Guide, p. 9; see Phase 1 functional gaps).
  • The Mars-forward area "Independent operations": "NASA can test many enabling capabilities and operational principles at the Moon Base, including autonomous systems, human/robotic interactions, and astronaut autonomy" (Users Guide, p. 14; see Mars-forward).

Sources

Tech gaps spreadsheet, ESDMD #1002 · ADD Rev C, pp. 78, 199, 209, 240, 248, 250 · Users Guide, pp. 8, 9, 14