In this section
@article{Malone:2026:10.1016/j.actaastro.2026.04.012,
author = {Malone, L and Cardin, MA and Cilliers, J and Starr, S and Hadler, K},
doi = {10.1016/j.actaastro.2026.04.012},
journal = {Acta Astronautica},
pages = {745--759},
title = {Controlled user study on the role of situational awareness in design decisions for future lunar In-situ resource utilization systems},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2026.04.012},
volume = {246},
year = {2026}
}
TY - JOUR
AB - As human exploration of the Moon and Mars transitions from temporary missions to long-term habitation, in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) is expected to play a pivotal role in enabling future sustainable economic and scientific activities in space. Designing and operating ISRU systems under such extreme and uncertain conditions, however, presents major challenges, ranging from dealing with harsh environmental conditions, regulatory complexity, to differing stakeholder risk tolerance profiles and unpredictable technological system behavior. This study introduces a novel experimental methodology to investigate how human factors playing an important role in situational awareness can influence ISRU-related design decision-making and associated performance under uncertainty. Specifically, this study addresses the following research question: What are the main and interaction effects of different levels of visual fidelity and emotional cues on users’ ability to manage remote lunar resource production systems under uncertainty? A controlled user study involving 33 participants used a serious game platform to explore the effects of two key variables: visual fidelity of the simulation and presence of emotional cues. In a realistic though simplified mission, participants were tasked with operating a simulated lunar ISRU system to supply water sustainably to a lunar habitat. Results show that emotional cues can significantly enhance participants’ performance, measured through a novel operational sustainability metric, particularly in low-fidelity visual environments. The results provide no evidence of statistically significant correlation between situational awareness and system performance. These findings highlight the importance of immersive and affective elements in simulation-based training platforms. The proposed methodology provides a structured, replicable framework to evaluate decision-making in complex space systems, and offers valuable insights into how
AU - Malone,L
AU - Cardin,MA
AU - Cilliers,J
AU - Starr,S
AU - Hadler,K
DO - 10.1016/j.actaastro.2026.04.012
EP - 759
PY - 2026///
SN - 0094-5765
SP - 745
TI - Controlled user study on the role of situational awareness in design decisions for future lunar In-situ resource utilization systems
T2 - Acta Astronautica
UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2026.04.012
VL - 246
ER -