One UCF scientist was recently awarded grants from NASA totaling $1.8 million to aid in the studying of health and performance factors that could help future space crews travel to the moon, Mars or asteroids.
Eduardo Salas, Pegasus and Trustee Chair professor of psychology and scientist with the Institute for Simulation and Training, was the only researcher to receive two awards given out by NASA and the National Space Biomedical Research Institute. A total of 23 awards valued at at $17 million were awarded to various researchers.
Salas will head the research which aims to ensure the health of space flight crews when traveling to space. The first project will focus on methods to detect and mitigate cognitive performance deficits, stress, fatigue, anxiety and depression for the operational setting of spaceflight from ongoing team member communications, either spoken or written, UCF said in a statement.
“During long-term spaceflight team members will talk a lot, both during mission critical operations and their down time,” Salas told UCF. “By analyzing spontaneous verbal output in real-time communication, we can develop tools to predict problems before they arise.”
According to UCF, the second project will develop a framework for measuring the safety and efficiency of interactions between human team members and the automation required to sustain long-term flight.
“NASA is one of our earliest research partners and we are pleased, in our 50th anniversary year, to be granted these awards, in complimentary disciplines, which highlight the increasing breadth of our research strength,” MJ Soileau, vice president for research & commercialization at UCF, said in a statement.
