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Project Progress

We have been planning the 2012 analog deployment (PROVES) on the slopes of Mauna Kea, in collaboration with NASA teams and the Canadian Space Agency. The focus of this deployment will be on testing technology related to in-situ resource utilization on the Moon, such as the manned and partially autonomous rovers developed at the Canadian Space Agency, and the RESOLVE project at NASA. My group will evaluate the utility of 3-D visualization in traverse planning, robotic navigation, and the exploration of lava tubes (ARTSE, or Augmented Reality Technology for Space Exploration).

We also continued planning for future deployments: in particular, a four-month exploration simulation scheduled for early 2013, called HI-SEAS (Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation). Although the focus of the deployment will be human factors research, the participants will carry out astrobiologically-relevant field research (e.g. geobiology in lava caves) as part of a high-fidelity mission simulation.

We were able to leverage work on this project to gain further funding; in particular, a $948k 3-year grant from the NASA Human Research Program (approximately 1/3 of which will be managed at University of Hawaii), which supports the HI-SEAS project.