PhD Thesis Proposal

Mason Starr

(Faculty advisor: E. Glenn Lightsey)

"Embedding Expertise into Interfaces: Using Cognitive Engineering and Digital Twins to Increase Situation Awareness in Space Mission Operators"

Friday, September 4

10:00 a.m.

ESM 201

Abstract:

Space mission operators require situation awareness (SA) to make informed decisions under uncertainty, yet modern monitoring and control (M&C) interfaces do not support all modes of SA required for informed decision-making. This deficiency is amplified in university missions, where high student turnover results in novices lacking the mental models that experts use to interpret system behavior and anticipate failures. This research makes expert cognition accessible to novices, by designing, implementing, and evaluating Mission Operations Support System (MOSS), an ecological M&C interface supported by a physics-based spacecraft digital twin. MOSS will be tailored to the needs of the Georgia Tech student operators of NASA’s Green Propulsion Dual-Mode (GPDM) CubeSat mission. Cognitive systems engineering frameworks structure analysis and implementation: Work Domain Analysis (WDA) characterizes the functional constraints of the LEO mission operations domain, Goal-Directed Task Analysis (GDTA) derives SA requirements and corresponding evaluation queries, and Ecological Interface Design (EID) translates both into an interface that makes system-level relationships directly perceivable. SA requirements and WDA constraints are mapped to digital twin functional, data, and fidelity requirements. The research follows the Action Design Research (ADR) methodology, in which MOSS is iteratively built, deployed, and evaluated during GPDM flight operations through weekly Build-Intervene-Evaluate (BIE) cycles with the operations team. Finally, a controlled experiment using the Situation Awareness Global Assessment Technique (SAGAT) validates the effect of MOSS on operator SA. Contributions include the first end-to-end EID process evaluated in naturalistic LEO satellite operations, the first formalization of cognitive engineering models in SysML v2, a methodology for deriving digital twin requirements from cognitive work models, and generalizable design principles for SA-supporting M&C software in satellite operations.

Committee:
Dr. E. Glenn Lightsey (advisor), School of Aerospace Engineering
Dr. Glenn Lightsey, School of Aerospace Engineering
Dr. Karen Feigh, School of Aerospace Engineering
Dr. Olivia Fischer, School of Aerospace Engineering