WASHINGTON - The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is soliciting information on technologies to support operations independent of Earth for future human spaceflight missions, with a specific focus on anomaly-response capabilities enabled by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML).
In a Request for Information (RFI) issued by the agency’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, NASA is seeking capability statements from U.S.-based organizations to inform potential commercial partnerships under its Mars Campaign Office Earth Independent Operations portfolio.
The RFI targets technologies that would allow astronaut crews to diagnose and respond to mission-critical anomalies without real-time support from Earth during periods of extended communications delay or outage, such as those expected on future Mars missions. NASA emphasized that no solicitation currently exists and that the RFI is for planning purposes only.
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Anomaly Responses
According to NASA, the Anomaly Response portfolio focuses on onboard capabilities that combine physics-based reasoning, knowledge-driven approaches, and data-driven AI and machine learning to support crew-led diagnostics and response planning for unanticipated faults. Areas of interest include system diagnostics, fault hypothesis generation, procedure synthesis, procedure validation, and crew decision support.
The agency said anomalies of interest span life support, power, thermal, avionics, propulsion, guidance, navigation and control, communications, and vehicle structures and fluids. NASA is particularly interested in approaches that are robust under limited computing resources, intermittent data, and evolving system configurations, while also providing human-understandable explanations to support crew decision-making.
Tech evaluation
NASA said it is evaluating technologies using a mix of simulated data, testbeds, and International Space Station data, including demonstrations on power distribution systems, urine processing assemblies, and carbon dioxide scrubbers. While these systems serve as evaluation platforms, the agency noted that technologies should be applicable across multiple spacecraft subsystems.
The Mars Campaign Office also highlighted potential dual-use applications of anomaly-response technologies in terrestrial sectors, including aviation, energy, manufacturing, automotive systems, and data centers.
Responses may address capabilities such as real-time anomaly detection from telemetry and multimodal data, fault inference and uncertainty estimation, prediction of downstream effects and time-to-effect, synthesis and validation of novel response procedures, and presentation of actionable diagnostic information to crews operating under high time pressure and cognitive load.
NASA is also seeking information on relevant facilities, laboratory capabilities, workforce expertise, and existing commercial applications. Responses are limited to 10 pages and must be submitted in PDF format. Responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically by 11:59 p.m. EST on 18 February 2026. The agency named Andres Martinez as the primary point of contact. They can be emailed at [email protected].
