Skip to main content
. 2019 Mar 6;19(3):300–320. doi: 10.1089/ast.2018.1861

Table 3.

Biologic Analog Science Associated with Lava Terrains-2 Flight Rules

ID Flight rule
Safety
 S1 Any person may stop an activity (in-sim or x-sim) at any time for any reason to ensure safety of personnel and equipment and protection of the environment.
 S2 EVAs shall end NLT 1600 HST.
Mission Management and Authority
 MM1 MMT has authority and responsibility for strategic (e.g., EVA planning) decisions affecting scientific and/or exploration objectives. Strategic decisions affecting science and/or exploration objectives must be discussed with the MMT.
 MM2 All EVA plans must be approved and finalized by the MMT at least 12 h before execution.
 MM3 Minutes shall be recorded during all MMT meetings, including documentation of all decisions and plan changes.
 MM4 Changes to EV, IV, Flight Director, and SIMCOORD shall be approved and finalized by the MMT at least 12 h before execution.
EVA Management and Authority
 EM1 The crew has authority and responsibility for tactical (i.e., EVA execution) decisions:
 IV1: authority and responsibility for operational EVA decisions and tactics.
 EV2: authority and responsibility for scientific EVA decisions and tactics.
 MSC (including Flight Director, CAPCOM, SCICOM, and Science Team Members) are advisory only.
 EM2 Flight Director has authority over all operational recommendations from the MSC.
 EM3 Science Team Lead has authority over all scientific recommendations from the MSC.
 EM4 CAPCOM and SCICOM are responsible for clear communication between the MSC and crew.
 EM5 “In-sim” activities take priority over “x-sim” activities.
 EM6 A single EVA shall not exceed 6 h.
 EM7 EVAs shall be planned to fit a ≤5-h timeline plus 30-min margin.
 EM8 Extensions up to 30 additional minutes (i.e., beyond the 30-min margin called out in EM7 up to 6 h total PET) can be proposed NLT the planned end time of the EVA. Consent by all members is not required as long as the EV and IV crew, FST, and communications infrastructure team agree to the extension and the statement of extension is formally given to the MSC.
Troubleshooting
 T1 Minimum Acceptable Communication: Once started, simulations may continue under degraded communication conditions until indicated otherwise by the EV crew or FST (e.g., EV crew determine they cannot execute EVA timeline without input from IV/MSC, or FST requires a system reboot to resolve system issues).
 T2 Once an infrastructure reboot is determined essential, SIMCOORD shall coordinate with IV1 to schedule the reboot and notify FST. Once a reboot is completed, IV1 shall be notified by SIMCOORD and provide a 10-s countdown to resume the EVA.
 T3 The dates and times during which in-sim EVAs are conducted without specific systems available shall be recorded by the science operations stenographer.
 T4 Real-time position tracking and physiological monitoring are not required. EVA start times will not be delayed or interrupted to permit troubleshooting of physiological sensors.
 T5 An established simulation not-to-exceed-end-time will be defined for each EVA (e.g., not to exceed simulation time beyond 4:00 PM HST) by the MMT the day before operations. If troubleshooting may prohibit continuing of simulations for the day, an impromptu MMT meeting will take place to establish priorities for the remainder of the day.
 T6 Troubleshooting in the field after an EVA shall not extend beyond the time required to get all personnel back to their vehicles before 1730 HST.
Ground rules
 GR1 A 20-m zone of exclusion will be implemented around the perimeter of the EV crew and EV support during the EVA to improve simulation fidelity and minimize area contamination.

CAPCOM, capsule communicator; EV, extravehicular; FST, field support team; HST, Hawai‘i standard time; IV, intravehicular; MMT, Mission Management Team; MSC, Mission Support Center; NLT, no-later-than; PET, phase-elapsed time; SCICOM, science communicator; SIMCOORD, simulation coordinator.