Earth-Independent Operations for Human Missions to Mars

Human space flight has depended on real-time control, guidance, decision-support, and problem solving from the ground for the past 60 years. Human exploration beyond cis-lunar space will require a greater level of autonomy than is currently possible. This talk will discuss the history of NASA’s human space flight missions in this context and the current approach to increasingly Earth-independent operations including advances in communication networks, advanced sensor networks, onboard intelligent systems, and crew preparation.

Speaker: Alonso Vera, NASA