After Phase II the CASE components or the architecture as a whole will be available to be reworked for exploration systems development and testing. While there may not be a planetary base in the near future, Orion and other spacecraft that will combine life support systems and EVA operations can benefit by using an autonomous or semi-autonomous CASE agent. An excellent example is the "Proving Ground" phase asteroid redirect mission (ARM), which will involve EVAs to obtain samples from captured asteroids. A CASE agent could also be used on the ISS to support testing of life support and the SSRMS in an exploration scenarios as precursors to future exploration missions. In the past, at Johnson Space Center (JSC) we have worked with EVA personnel and flight directors in migrating PRIDE and planning technologies into mission control. These are the same people working on EVAs for the potential ARM as well as planetary base operations. We plan to speak with our contacts in the MCC to exploring ways to minimize the number of personnel working the flight control stations using the technologies in this work. This work will also provide a connection to automated planning technology development through NASA ARC's Automation for Operations (A4O) project and its successors. We will work closely with Dr. Jeremy Frank at NASA ARC during Phase 1 to ensure our relevance to the A4O projects.
TRACLabs is already selling PRIDE as a commercial product to oil field services companies and is providing automation assistance to other companies for drilling operations. The companies involved have already expressed interest in licensing the new capabilities being developed in this project. We will work with them to make sure that this project meets their requirements. TRACLabs expects additional customers in the oil and gas industry will deploy PRIDE once it has been proven effective. Sierra Nevada Corporation has also purchased PRIDE licenses for use in their Dream Chaser program, which was recently selected to deliver cargo to ISS. In all of these cases, we will offer the features developed this proposal as an "add-o" to the existing PRIDE software we deliver. Thus, we can immediately move this research out into industry by leveraging our existing PRIDE user base.
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