Giuseppe Ferraioli

EUROAVIA - European Association of Aerospace Students - is a Europe based non-profit organisation for international students and young professionals interested in space and aeronautics to support and enhance both their professional and personal development. Established in 1959, two years after the Treaties of Rome that paved the way for economic cooperation in Europe, EUROAVIA connects nowadays more than 2000 members in 38 different cities of 19 European countries. Its goal is to stimulate… Show more

EUROAVIA - European Association of Aerospace Students - is a Europe based non-profit organisation for international students and young professionals interested in space and aeronautics to support and enhance both their professional and personal development. Established in 1959, two years after the Treaties of Rome that paved the way for economic cooperation in Europe, EUROAVIA connects nowadays more than 2000 members in 38 different cities of 19 European countries. Its goal is to stimulate cooperation between the industry, the institutions and the academia in aerospace research and technology and its applications, preparing the members' association to become the skilled and knowledgeable space workforce of tomorrow... In this context, the paper discusses opportunities and innovative approaches to embrace the aforementioned challenges. Moreover a special focus is put on our core activities which bring aerospace students and young professional leaders together with world key space actors, including ESA, CNES, DLR, Arianespace and Airbus Space Defence. Such activities count annual congresses, technical symposia, training sessions and design workshops such as the "Preliminary Design of an UAV for Exploration of Mars" hosted by EUROAVIA and ESA Estec.
Additionally the framework of the new international rocketry competition is introduced.
In conclusion, the importance of enhancing existing synergies with the world of industry and insti-
tutions along with creating new partnerships is highlighted as key factor to prepare the future space
workforce. The foundation of the last two EUROAVIA branches in Toulouse and Kourou, within the
Guiana Space Centre, proves our added value to members' education and careers development in space. Show less

Humanoid robots have always been a challenging subject of study, due to their complexity, not only in replicating the human body movements, but also in emulating its autonomous behaviour and interaction with the outside world...Indeed, a deeper understanding of how well robots and humans can interact and cooperate with each other along with advancements in technology, will hopefully allow the robots to take more active roles in assisting astronauts on missions.
In this context, the aim of… Show more

Humanoid robots have always been a challenging subject of study, due to their complexity, not only in replicating the human body movements, but also in emulating its autonomous behaviour and interaction with the outside world...Indeed, a deeper understanding of how well robots and humans can interact and cooperate with each other along with advancements in technology, will hopefully allow the robots to take more active roles in assisting astronauts on missions.
In this context, the aim of the paper is to provide a panorama of ideas on human robotic collaboration onboard, to enhance the crew's ability to perform their mission successfully and return safely to Earth. Firstly, the use of humanoid robots is suggested to support and eventually replace the crew in operations with low tolerance for errors, including risky extravehicular activities. Their role as scientific supporters and supervisors, as well as maintenance technicians, is also discussed. Secondly, human and robotic partnership is presented to improve crew’s habitat interface, reduce visual chaos and avoid the difficulties in distinguishing instruments and in performing activities. Humans and robots will have to coordinate to apply the 5S methodology and organize a work space for efficiency and effectiveness by identifying and storing the items used, maintaining the area and items, and sustaining the new order. This will result in increased comfort and general habitability. Additionally, the presence of robots onboard is recommended as psychological support to crew, to mitigate latent and overt stressors. Indeed, robots can take over monotonous and routine tasks by reducing boredom and tedium. Furthermore, humanoid robots are particularly suitable to help astronauts in recreation and space art activities.
In conclusion, this paper suggests the use of space analogues as part of a stepwise approach for implementing new capabilities needed for future space missions.
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The challenges related to reliable transportation, habitability and other critical capabilities are to be consistently met, when considering a mission to Mars. Hence, the spacecraft systems engineering needs to be combined with the application of sound human factors principles. The human-environment relationship is of paramount importance in strengthening the crew's ability to perform their mission successfully.
The current paper rethinks spacecraft design with a human-centered approach. The… Show more

The challenges related to reliable transportation, habitability and other critical capabilities are to be consistently met, when considering a mission to Mars. Hence, the spacecraft systems engineering needs to be combined with the application of sound human factors principles. The human-environment relationship is of paramount importance in strengthening the crew's ability to perform their mission successfully.
The current paper rethinks spacecraft design with a human-centered approach. The main objective is to create a travelling, working and living place where it is possible to maintain physiological homeostasis, psychosocial integrity and avoid sense deprivation. After an analysis based on spacecraft usability, fexibility and livability, three innovative ideas are discussed: modularity, interlocking design and a sensorial stimulation area. The paper shows that the concept of modularity facilitates recovery of up to 15.3% of the spacecraft habitable volume, by making use of intelligent and transformable environment. Additionally, the use of the interlocking design is presented.
Given the positive impact of the environmental variability, fexible usage, and personalization on unforeseen social and mission related changes, this new concept helps to customize elements of the environment and to rearrange crew's personal habitat. Furthermore, the design of a dedicated area for sensorial stimulation is considered. Finally, a special emphasis is put on the benefits of fostering crew's imagination by encouraging artistic and recreational activities. The use of some design artifices such as interactive screens, mirrors and interchangeable walls are proposed, along with a new concept for the cupola to counteract the Earth out of view phenomenon.
In conclusion, in order to test the discussed concepts in a relevant environment, this paper suggests the use of space analogues. This will allow refinement of the human-centered design, helping prepare missions to Mars. Show less

Placing humans in space for a long duration mission beyond Earth's neighborhood implies the design of a highly complex system to travel, live and work safely in the hostile environment of deep space. In order to identify all the constraints from both engineering and human sides, a meticulous system engineering approach has to be followed and the human sciences, including incorporation of ideas from artists, ergonomists and psychologists, have to be integrated in the very early stages of the… Show more

Placing humans in space for a long duration mission beyond Earth's neighborhood implies the design of a highly complex system to travel, live and work safely in the hostile environment of deep space. In order to identify all the constraints from both engineering and human sides, a meticulous system engineering approach has to be followed and the human sciences, including incorporation of ideas from artists, ergonomists and psychologists, have to be integrated in the very early stages of the mission design.
Given the future human space flight destinations en route to Mars, the main psychosocial and psychological issues are concerning the adverse effects of prolonged co-living and co-working in small groups, under conditions of confinement and isolation. With the aim to study the impact on habitability of latent and overt stressors, yielded by space flight missions, and to gain a deeper understanding of crew productivity and reliability, in socially risky situations and extreme environments, we conducted a survey involving participants from naturalistic space analogues (Antarctic settings, caves extended exploration, remote sea-based oil drilling platforms, remote military outposts, drone pilots, Mars 520).
The participants completed a questionnaire aiming to examine the effects of psychological, interpersonal and environmental factors on individual well-being and team performance. The data collected revealed the criticality of the several space analogues and helped to quantify the general statement which claims that no place on Earth can reproduce the exact extreme space conditions.
The results suggest that the design of habitats and habitable structures for spaceships and analogue environments should include as many private crew areas as possible. Several other countermeasures are proposed for a successful integration of the human factors subsystem in the early mission planning. Show less

The International Space Station represents the first space project involving the cooperation between major space agencies and plays also a major role in the Human Space Exploration. Unfortunately, even if it has been used for scientific purposes to great acclaim, the future of the ISS is still uncertain, so the Space sector runs the risk of reaching a standstill after 2020. This paper investigates concepts and potential for post-ISS space activities in Low Earth Orbit and analyses political… Show more

The International Space Station represents the first space project involving the cooperation between major space agencies and plays also a major role in the Human Space Exploration. Unfortunately, even if it has been used for scientific purposes to great acclaim, the future of the ISS is still uncertain, so the Space sector runs the risk of reaching a standstill after 2020. This paper investigates concepts and potential for post-ISS space activities in Low Earth Orbit and analyses political, financial, legal and technical aspects in order to establish the feasibility of potential projects. The importance of post-ISS activities in LEO as test bench for the future deep space exploratory missions is also highlighted. The analysis is in agreement with the Global Exploration Roadmap, released in September 2011 by the International Space Exploration Coordination Group, which reflects the international effort to define a long-range human exploration strategy that begins with the ISS and expands human presence throughout the Solar System, leading to human missions to explore the surface of Mars. Taking into account the current political decisions and the on-going strategies, this paper proposes new ways to maintain and even develop the funding of human space activities in LEO. For instance the role of the general public's imagination is of great importance as shown by the development of space tourism. It is undeniable that the general public's imagination must be captivated stronger than before. A stronger public interest would engage private industry further than its current nascent state, and encourage governments to invest further in public agencies. The importance of international cooperation to improve the funding opportunities should also not be underestimated. Finally, the role of public and private engagement, in terms of cooperation and competition, and the potential of increasing the involvement of the private sector in human space activities are also analysed. Show less

Space exploration follows a logical set of steps, starting with basic knowledge and culminating, hopefully, in a sustained human presence in space.
On the basis of risk, cost and technology readiness criteria, the present paper aims to provide quantitative results to set up a Deep Space-Habitat, as an exploration gateway, at the Earth Moon Lagrange point n°2 (EML2), on the way to the Moon, Mars and asteroids colonization. Highly reliable and safe systems are crucial as interplanetary… Show more

Space exploration follows a logical set of steps, starting with basic knowledge and culminating, hopefully, in a sustained human presence in space.
On the basis of risk, cost and technology readiness criteria, the present paper aims to provide quantitative results to set up a Deep Space-Habitat, as an exploration gateway, at the Earth Moon Lagrange point n°2 (EML2), on the way to the Moon, Mars and asteroids colonization. Highly reliable and safe systems are crucial as interplanetary resupply missions from Earth cannot reach the crew at short notice and a quick return to Earth is not possible. This problem is the strong link with the last year’s article “Mission analysis for a space medical center of an exploration gateway at a lunar libration point”, published at IAC in Cape Town, in 2011. Here a further analysis will be carried out on how to develop the preliminary bibliographical studies and to go deeper into the modeling of scenarios.
In a first analysis, a local optimization of the deployment of the Deep-Space Habitat for an international space heaven located at EML2 is performed. After investigating different propulsion technologies, a general analysis in order to minimize the cost to join the permanent outpost in the Earth-Moon system is run. The future needs an exploration gateway at a lunar libration point which will be developed for a 2035 timeframe, as indicated by the Global Exploration Strategy, might slightly change. As a direct consequence, the number of modules composing the Deep-Space Habitat is not specified to make the analysis more generic and flexible.
Secondly, special emphasis is placed on locally optimizing the operational phase, with the mission analysis of the resupply cargo. The time to come back to Earth is the dimensioning parameter in order to guarantee safety in emergency cases for the crew.
Finally, a global optimization for the entire Deep-Space Habitat mission, encompassing deployment and operational phase can be started. Show less