Crew Selection Procedures

The Schedule for the Crew Selection, Training and Research will be as follows (though this is subject to modification by circumstance):

Timeline	Activity
July 16th, 2002	A Call for Researchers and Volunteers will be released
August 30th, 2002	Deadline for Crew Applications and Research Proposals to be received. No exceptions.
September 7th, 2002	First cut of crew-candidates and offers to individuals will be made.
September 15th, 2002	Deadline for acceptance of offers
Mid-September to November 30th, 2002	Crew Candidates will develop research and work routine plans. Based on performance and quality of ideas, a final cut will be made by November 30th.
November 30th - December 1st, 2002	Some crewmembers within driving distance will meet in Toronto for training.
December 1st 2002 - February 1st, 2003	Field Research Crew will prepare academic papers in advance of the Expedition. Some members of the Mission Systems Crew will also prepare academic papers.
February 15th - March 16th, 2003	During the Expedition the crew collects data for their papers.
March - July 2003	Post-Expedition, the crew analyzes the data collected and writes final papers for professional publication.

NEW! August 20, 2002: Application Procedures: Email the for an application ID number. Then download the package, and follow the instructions given there. Each package is a Microsoft Word file into which you can type your answers in the fields provided. Once complete, email it to the PI. You will be contacted only if invited to participate in Expedition One. Given that there may be several hundred applicants, the PI cannot answer questions about your application. If you wish to participate in multiple roles (ie. on the field crew as well as on Mission Support, or as different roles on the field team during different Phases) then download and fill out multiple applications. Obtain a unique application ID number from the PI for each application you fill out for a different role, of for multiple research proposals.

Note that in addition to the crew, we will be selecting researchers and volunteers for the Mission Support team. This team will be intrinsic to helping planning and support the research conducted during the expedition. See the bottom of this page for Mission Support duty descriptions and application procedures.

For Phase 1 and 2, due to planning and logistical reasons, the EVA parameters have already been decided, though the crew will need to work with the Principal Invesitgator and the Project Manager to determine the goals of each experiment. The crew will be selected as follows:

The Field Research Crew will be comprised of 6 scientists who will be geologists and biologists. The Mission Systems Crew will be 6 or 7 people who are engineers, computer technology specialists (both software and hardware), psychologists, human factors specialists, and videographers.

The Field Research Crew will conduct a series of EVA experiments to determine the best strategies for field science, field operations and reconnaissance. We will maximize the data returned by conducting at least four EVAs per day, where each Field Research Crew member during a three day cycle would do two EVAs on one day, and one EVA on each of the other two days. At times during the day when research crew members are not on EVA, they will use the time for lab analysis and working with the Mission Systems Crew. For Phase 1 and 2 this means 48 EVAs need to be pre-planned. Each of these will need the data returned to be integrated into a GIS system with help from the Mission Systems Crew. The Systems Crew will be commanded by an Executive Officer, who will be responsible for activities within the habitat. The XO will be assisted by three Mission Systems Engineers for keeping the daily maintenance logs, ordering supplies, communicating with remote Mission Support, maintaining the Greenhouse, and ensuring functionality of all spacesuits, rovers, ATVs, radios, batteries, dataloggers, and anything else needed for EVAs. There will be two videographers, both whom will accompany each of the EVA teams. The videographers could be Human Factors specialists or Psychologists, or trained to do the work required for human factors / social-psychology studies, as well as publicity, interviewing, and debriefing duties. The Systems Engineers and XO will be available if any need arises to substitute on EVA for any Field Research Crew member, such as injury, exhaustion or other issues.

For Phase 3, we will be conducting scientific experiments both outside and within the station. Based on knowledge of the area, pre-Expedition planning, and the maps generated by our scouting efforts in Phases 1 and 2, we will have geologists, geophysicists and biologists pick ten or more sites of interest for a complete investigative survey according to their own research agenda. The survey techniques employed will first be tested during Phase 2, and the best field work strategies will be taught to the Phase 3 survey crew. The EVA planning and debriefings will be video-recorded by at least one Human Factors specialist, who would also accompany the Field Research team on EVAs. One or two researchers in telemedicine / telehealth may be selected for the science crew. Habitat Systems will be maintained by the XO, and two Mission Systems Engineers. Two crewmembers will take one of the Analog Pressurized Rovers for a week-long sojourn, and not see the rest of the crew for that time as an isolation experiment.

Phase 4 will integrate the lessons learned and best strategies from the previous three phases. That means the Phase 4 crew will undertake EVAs to scout new sites, as well as investigate previous sites of interest with a complete investigative survey using the instruments and techniques previously established. The Phase 4 crew will be 8 scientists and engineers, who will determine their own daily crew schedule based on their judgement of the best integrated mission scenario.

The First Cut

Expedition One will make a first cut of applicants from data submitted for their application packages, as well as personal interviews. This data could be correlated with a post-Expedition analysis of crew performance to examine if the crew selection process was effective and what personalities functioned best in which situations. As much as possible we will train crewmembers for videography work, GIS work, habitat systems maintenance, as well as spacesuit, rover and datalogger use before the Expedition is launched. Support will be conducted on site by the Mission Systems Crew, and remotely by Mission Support in Toronto.

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