Learning from the Mars Rover Mission: scientific discovery, learning and memory

Abstract

Purpose

Knowledge management for space exploration is part of a multi‐generational effort. Each mission builds on knowledge from prior missions, and learning is the first step in knowledge production. This paper aims to use the Mars Exploration Rover mission as a site to explore this process.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper presents an observational study and analysis of the work of the MER science and engineering team during rover operations, to investigate how learning occurs, how it is recorded, and how these representations might be made available for subsequent missions.

Findings

The paper finds that learning occurred in many areas: planning science strategy, using instruments within the constraints of the Martian environment, the Deep Space Network, and the mission requirements; using software tools effectively; and running two teams on Mars time for three months. This learning is preserved in many ways. Primarily it resides in individuals' memories. It is also encoded in stories, procedures, programming sequences, published reports, and lessons learned databases.

Research limitations/implications

This paper shows the earliest stages of knowledge creation in a scientific mission, and demonstrates that knowledge management must begin with an understanding of knowledge creation.

Practical implications

The paper shows that studying learning and knowledge creation suggests proactive ways to capture and use knowledge across multiple missions and generations.

Originality/value

This paper provides a unique analysis of the learning process of a scientific space mission, relevant for knowledge management researchers and designers, as well as demonstrating in detail how new learning occurs in a learning organization.

Citation

Linde, C. (2006), "Learning from the Mars Rover Mission: scientific discovery, learning and memory", Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 10 No. 2, pp. 90-102. https://doi.org/10.1108/13673270610656656