Playbook

Playbook for Spaceflight Analogs

Playbook is the SPIFe team's current software platform to support the next generation of planning, scheduling, and execution tools for space exploration. Timeline scheduling includes ability to model activities, resources, and constraints as well as supports violation checking and resolution. Execution capabilities includes procedure integration, tracking status of activities, and multimedia communication.  Playbook for Spaceflight Analogs is mobile-ready and enables analog crew members to create, manipulate, and execute mission timelines. The Timeline displays the scheduled activities for all crew members on any given day in a mission, but is unique when compared to other schedule viewers currently in use onboard the International Space Station because it allows astronauts to edit the timeline directly without the need for intervention from ground personnel. Playbook's Mission Log is also used in analogs; it is a novel text and multimedia communication platform which supports collaboration within communication-delayed environments.

NASA Playbook Timeline showing detailed activity information across a mission plan
Playbook's Timeline provides detailed activity information across a mission plan (Credit: NASA/NASA Ames Research Center)

NASA Playbook Mission Log feature enables text and multimedia communications in simulated communication delay environments
Playbook’s Mission Log feature enables text and multimedia communications in simulated communication delay environments (Credit: NASA/NASA Ames Research Center)

Playbook has been used as the primary mission planning and execution tool on various NASA analog missions, including NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO), Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA), Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA), Biologic Analog Science Associated with Lava Terrains (BASALT), Hawai'i Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS), and more. Playbook has been part of two ISS Technology Demonstrations, one as part of the Exploration Systems Development Division (ESDM) and the other, as part of Crew Autonomous Scheduling Test (CAST).

International Space Station (ISS) astronaut using Playbook on a touch device as part of the Crew Autonomous Scheduling Test (CAST) experiment
International Space Station (ISS) astronaut using Playbook on a touch device as part of the Crew Autonomous Scheduling Test (CAST) experiment (Credit: NASA/NASA Johnson Space Center)

Biologic Analog Science Associated with Lava Terrains (BASALT) team member watches Playbook Timeline while out in the field during a simulated extravehicular activity (EVA)
Biologic Analog Science Associated with Lava Terrains (BASALT) team member watches Playbook Timeline while out in the field during a simulated extravehicular activity (EVA) (Credit: NASA/BASALT)

Crew member on NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) utilizes Playbook during the undersea mission
Crew member on NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) utilizes Playbook during the undersea mission (Credit: NASA)

NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) mission control personnel gather to review the mission plan in Playbook
NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) mission control personnel gather to review the mission plan in Playbook (Credit: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory)

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