“The human race must start leaving Earth within 30 years to avoid being wiped out by over-population and climate change”, Professor Stephen Hawking has warned.
As we all know, NASA and few successful private companies such as SpaceX tries to do everything to solve this problem. Starting from the first human landing on the Moon in 1969 and ending with Falcon 9 launching the NROL-108 mission completing SpaceX’s 26th mission of 2020.[1] Technologies develop and new challenges require innovative solutions: in September, NASA iTech issued a call for solutions within focus areas including Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality Advancement, Autonomy, High-Performance Computing and Medical Breakthrough.[2] NASA believes Senstone voice assistant technology has a potential in exploration of the Moon and Mars. Today we are going to consider the importance of a reliable diary suited for spacecraft.
There are numerous challenges the space exploration missions and people who travel to Moon and Mars are going to face: expanding human presence in space, managing in-space resources, enabling transformational space exploration, terraforming Mars, scientific discovery, Each and every task requires special and detailed information which will be easily and instantly recorded and transcribed into text. Let us take exploration of the Mars that may give such valuable information as recording observations about functioning of human bodies in space and in lower gravity, observations of the Martian soil and its chemical composition, exploring and recording atmospheric conditions on Mars. What might have the potential to address the challenges facing exploration of the Moon and Mars?
What tasks should the 21st century diary be able to solve?
- Diaries are essential to help preserve precise facts and data, e.g. about composition of found materials, its properties, knowledge and experience for future space missions.
- Diaries provide a unique glimpse into the joys and frustrations of life in space and may even represent the psychological effects of isolation. By looking in the diaries of astronauts researchers can gain insights into the mental and emotional states that accompany life aboard the space station or potentially a future colony on Mars.
- Keeping track of thoughts, tasks and lists is a helpful exercise for the crew as it helps to capture memories, expound on experiences and it may even provide an outlet for. The astronauts may also keep in touch with the crew members and their families and friends using hashtags which address a certain person.
These personal recording of events, data or thoughts may be used to derive recommendations for future missions; the objective is to identify equipment, habitat, and procedural factors that can help humans when adjusting, for instance, to isolation and confinement while ensuring they remain effective and productive during future long-duration space expeditions, such as a journey to Mars. Behavioral scientists having previously studied many exploration logs and personal journals from past explorers found there are highly predictable problems that will be encountered by future space crew, including strong-willed crew mates, cultural differences, possible misunderstandings and communication delays.
Benefits of the study include learning how astronauts find ways to adapt to the isolation, confinement and other stressors of life aboard the space station or a new colony. These insights will help NASA design equipment and procedures for future space exploration. Study results also show those of us on Earth that it is possible for people from different backgrounds and cultures to live in harmony, even under very stressful conditions. Astronauts can also log every problem they encounter and detail the solutions. As NASA prepares for a journey to Mars, the journals of real astronauts are finding solutions to problems that future crew members might never encounter.[3]
Just try to imagine for a couple of seconds an astronaut who is somewhere in the space gaining new experience, knowledge and making giant leaps for humanity. It would be hard to rely on memory and then try to write it down (writing process is not so easy in space) or to make voice recordings (which is a far better idea). We have already heard about logbooks which are widely used in airplanes, but still the content of which is a little bit different from spacecraft or space station logbooks. Although, airplane logbooks are used to record an itinerary of the flight, and it is a quite routine step, this is also a potential way to use it in space by expanding the scope of the content.
How might we help astronauts and colonists in recording daily routines of Mars activities, research projects, tasks for it to be helpful for their productivity, team work and then for further data analysis? There might be various approaches to the solution of this issue, but Senstone is one of the most convenient.
Senstone mini voice recorder would be an ideal solution for the above mentioned tasks as it gives an opportunity of taking notes without having to type. Right now, you need to tap the device to start recording, but the engineers are working on a way to record by voice commands. One of the numerous advantages is that any recording of tasks, todos or events will be written down in seconds and this way we might save the austronauts’ precious time in space.
The key point is that an astronaut doesn’t have to reach out for any other devices or notebooks. The smart pedant is an intriguing reliable and functional device that records voice memos, automatically organizes them for the user, and transcribes them into text. The only thing to be improved, we guess, might be the way the pendant can be worn as it is designed to be small and tiny so it might be even more practical and handy version of it with simplified detachable backs system. The aspect of functions and size should be considered for each mission separately.
Thus, Senstone could potentially provide space exploration missions and astronauts with an opportunity to take instant records transcribed into text and voice notes automatically. This brilliant invention will make the process of putting together a diary in spacecraft easier, quicker and much more productive.
[1] https://www.spacex.com/launches/index.html
[2] http://www.parabolicarc.com/2017/11/28/nasa-itech-selects-top-25-semifinalists-innovation-competition/
[3] https://www.nasa.gov/content/journaling-astronauts-chronicle-missions
[4] https://gethealth.io/tracker/2016/10/31/weekly-wearables-roundup_senstone_moovhr_alcotatt_astroskin/
