• Wild, Fridolin
• Helin, Kaj
• Ravagnolo, Liliana
• Rasool, Jazz
• Musso, Ivano
• Sapone, Rosa
• Vizzi, Carlo
• Vovk, Alla
• Limbu, Bibeg Hang
• Ransley, Mark
• Smith, Carl H.

Abstract

Training is an essential component of astronauts’ mission preparation. Every astronaut receives specific trainings for the tasks to be performed in orbit, both routine and emergency, during the two years preceding the launch. Moreover, astronautsareassignedtoperformOnBoardTraining(OBT),inorder to practiceandmaintainahighlevelof proficiency,inparticularforcomplex and emergencyprocedures.The astronauttrainingprocessneedsto further evolveand adapttothe different conditionsandrequirementsthat comewith long-durationexplorationmissions. Currently,thetraining periodforanastronaut takes between 18and 24months.Projectingthis estimate on to a Mars/Moonmission with two-year duration (i.e., includingthelong-distancejourneyto Mars andback),atraining period ofabout six years wouldbe required,but is not feasible. Inaddition, today, theGroundTeam continuously supports crew members while they are performing activities onboard the International Space Station (ISS). This will not be possible during a mission to Mars, since the communication between Ground and Mars is affected by a delay that can range from 8 to 20 minutes, depending on how Mars and Earth are aligned in that specific moment. The WEKIT tool introduced in this paper is expected to fill these gaps by reducing thetraining duration necessary and by providing support to the crew when communication with Ground is not available, increasing their autonomy. WEKITisa researchandinnovationprojectsupportedbytheHorizon2020programdedicatedtodeveloping and testing novelways ofindustrialtrainingenabledbySmartWearableTechnology(WT). Thetwelve partners representing academia and industry from six countries in Europe have built a new learning technology platform and unique methodology to capture expert experience and share it with trainees making industrial training more efficient, affordableandengaging. Thispaperdescribesthemethodologyutilizedbythe consortiumtodesign theWEKIT softwareandhardware,itsfeatures, andthefeedback obtained from thealmost200participantswhotestedthe prototypeinALTEC todemonstrate andassess howthelearningprocessescanbeimprovedintermsof effectiveness, time reduction and user perception by using the proposed methodology.

Topics

• impedance spectroscopy
• aligned