A Method for Lunar Surface Autonomy Certification: Application to a Construction Pathfinder Mission

Developing autonomous technologies will enable humanity to considerably expand our lunar and space exploration capabilities. Along with the technical challenges of developing autonomous technologies, there is also the issue of trust—stakeholders are often resistant to their use for a variety of psychological reasons. Nevertheless, several successful methods for gradually building trust have been developed for both terrestrial and space applications. Relevant case studies provide insights on how trust is built for stakeholders when it comes to self-driving vehicles, Artificial Intelligence in aviation, space station operations, satellite rendezvous missions, and Mars rover surface operations. Based on these case studies, we propose a generalized method for building trust with stakeholders and have applied it to a lunar construction pathfinder mission currently in development. Metrics for assessing success criteria for autonomous systems are provided as a means to progress through the proposed phases of autonomy deployment.