Feasibility of Real-Time Astronaut Eye-Tracking During Analog Extravehicular Activities

Area of Science:

• Aerospace Medicine
• Human Factors Engineering
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Increasing frequency and duration of lunar missions necessitate enhanced astronaut performance during extravehicular activities (EVAs).
• Demanding EVA conditions elevate workload, reduce situational awareness, and increase operational error risk.
• Eye-tracking technology, proven in other high-risk fields, has not been applied to assess gaze behavior during EVAs.

Purpose of the Study:

• Evaluate the feasibility of using mobile eye-tracking technology within analog EVA suits.
• Assess implementation, data quality, and livestreaming capabilities of eye-tracking during simulated EVAs.
• Determine the potential for comparing gaze behavior across different tasks and EVA suits.

Main Methods:

• A trained subject performed simulated lunar tasks (locomotion, tool-cart navigation, regolith sampling) wearing different EVA training suits.
• A mobile eye-tracker was fitted to the subject before helmet donning.
• Data quality was assessed for robustness, reliability, and accuracy; data quantity was evaluated for analysis of fixations, saccades, and head movement.

Main Results:

• Over 4.5 hours of stable, accurate eye-tracking data were collected with no data loss.
• Successful livestreaming of gaze data to mission control was achieved.
• Task-dependent gaze behavior was observed, with fixation durations varying significantly across locomotion, tool-cart navigation, and regolith sampling tasks.

Conclusions:

• Mobile eye-tracking is feasible within spacesuit helmets in representative EVA environments.
• This technology offers an objective measure of astronaut cognitive workload.
• Real-time eye-tracking can serve as a live monitoring tool for mission control, improving astronaut training and EVA safety.