Overview:
NASA’s Johnson Space Center is seeking existing communication platforms, or platforms requiring limited iteration, that support asynchronous communication between astronaut crews and their Earth-based contacts during deep-space exploration missions with significant communication delay.
Background:
Future Mars missions will involve one-way communication delays of 12–22 minutes, making real-time crew-ground communication impossible. These delays will require a paradigm shift in crew-ground relations with strategies and technologies that support: (1) maintaining crew and Earth friends and family relationships asynchronously, (2) executing Earth-independent operations with remote strategic and tactical advisory from mission control, and (3) enabling Earth-independent medical operations with Earth-based remote, asynchronous care. NASA is looking to understand what platforms exist across commercial, NASA, and other government (e.g.DoW) sectors that could serve as a foundation for this system.
Constraints:
Solutions should:
- Support text, audio, video, and file-based communication
- Manage message queuing and delivery under intermittent or bandwidth-limited conditions
- Provide separate, access-controlled channels for crew, family/friends, medical providers, and mission control
- Support role-based access control, authentication, and encryption
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Possible Solution Areas:
- Enterprise collaboration platforms adapted for high-latency environments
- Defense/government systems designed for delay-tolerant or remote operations
- Telehealth platforms with asynchronous provider-patient communication
- Delay-Tolerant Networking-enabled messaging systems
- Remote field communication tools (offshore, polar, disaster response)
Related Tech Needs:Â
- Seeking: New portable communication technologies or approaches for long-distance two-way communication in underground tunnel systems
- Seeking: US Commercial Partners with Space Technology Capabilities
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