Mars Mission Communication Delays and Impact on Mission Controller Performance, Workload, and Stress

BACKGROUND: Mission Controllers (MCs) are the main point of contact for space crews and are vital for successful human spaceflight. On a mission to Mars, there will be as long as 22-min one-way communication delays between the ground and the crew, causing major changes to current communication infrastructures.

METHODS: This exploratory study assessed the impact of a 20-min one-way communication delay on MCs’ task performance, workload, and stress levels under nominal and off-nominal conditions, conducted during a 21-d analog mission.

RESULTS: Decrements in performance were noted on both nominal and off-nominal task completion in time-delay conditions [100% of real-time (rt) tasks complete, 16.7% of time-delay (td) tasks incomplete; 12.50% of nominal tasks and 33.33% of off-nominal tasks were incomplete]; more errors on task record forms (td = 6 forms, rt = 1 form); higher ratings of workload burden (nominal, td workload = 38.64; off-nominal, td workload = 58.72; nominal, rt workload = 34.00, off-nominal, rt workload = 52.78). No significant changes in MC stress levels were detected in rt compared to td, but MCs did report greater stress during off-nominal tasks compared to nominal tasks. The crew, however, were unable to detect these changes in MC stress levels.

DISCUSSION: Overall, these findings point to the importance of future research focused on MC training and adapting MC’s operations for time-delayed missions. Further studies of time-delayed analog missions could help determine additional solutions focused on technology advances.

Diamond M, Leon GR, de León P. Mars mission communication delays and impact on mission controller performance, workload, and stress. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2025; 96(1):67–70.