Ted Lasso goes to Space

Spacecraft autonomy turns commander into coach?

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November 10, 2021

Jason Sudeikis is not going to space. But his character Ted Lasso could serve as an example of what NASA needs in a current commander for missions to the International Space Station (ISS). That’s according to the latest commander of a NASA mission. It speaks to the growing commercial space industry and, more importantly, to vehicle autonomy.

NASA’s Crew-3 is the latest mission/crew to ride a SpaceX Dragon capsule to the ISS. The commander has never been to space before. For the first time in decades, NASA has put a rookie in charge of a mission. They picked a fighter jet test pilot for the job.

Raja Chari training in the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. (Credit: NASA)

COMMANDER RAJA CHARI

Raja Chari is a 44 year old Cedar Falls, Iowa pilot who goes by the callsign, “Grinder.” I have not had a chance to ask him where that came from, but his biography is impressive. He went to the Air Force Academy, then to M.I.T. He flew F-15’s before going to test pilot school and went on to command the test squadron for the world’s most advanced fighter jet, the F-35. Now he is Astronaut Chari and commander of Crew-3.

Chari in the US spacesuit for spacewalks. (Credit: NASA)

It’s unlikely this highly experienced flyer will actually get to “fly” his spacecraft on the way to the space station because the Dragon is automated. Automation has long been a part of space vehicles. The Apollo 11 lunar lander was supposed to land itself on the moon. Neil Armstrong had to take over manual control because the computer was going to put him and Buzz Aldrin down on some really big boulders.

AUTONOMOUS SPACECRAFT

SpaceX’s and Boeing’s capsules are fully autonomous. So, basically, astronauts can “sit back and enjoy the ride.” We just witnessed SpaceX send up an all-civilian crew for three days orbiting above the ISS.

Chari explains to Stephen Clark of Spaceflightnow.com why he may not manually fly the Dragon capsule. (Credit: Spaceflightnow.com)

The SpaceX Dragon, according to Chari, can require some human input. The commander and pilot monitor what the computer is doing. After a step the computer asks, in essence, “can I continue?” The astronauts touch the screen to allow the next autonomous step.

In the early days of NASA, the rockets and capsules were single-seaters. So, the agency picked one of the Mercury 7 astronauts to be first, second, third, or Deke Slayton, who had to wait until after Mercury to fly (another story). When Gemini and Apollo came along, the astronauts with experience usually became commanders.

(Credit: NASA)

EXPERIENCE NEEDED

NASA currently has a lot of astronauts who haven’t flown (a problem when one relies on the Russians for nearly a decade to get to space). With the pace of commercial flights increasing and NASA’s plan to return to the moon gaining momentum under the Artemis program, the agency wants astronauts to get flight experience. So Ted Lasso, I mean Raja Chari, was assigned to command Crew-3.

The Ted Lasso reference comes from Chari himself (although he does’t know it). He’s flying with two other rookies and Dr. Tom Marshburn. Dr. Tom is the guy you want on any trip you do. If you climb a mountain, go to the Amazon, or space Dr. Tom should be in your group. He’s been to space on the US space shuttle and on the Russian Soyuz.

COMMANDER-COACH

That leaves us with the Ted Lasso reference. With autonomous spacecraft becoming so reliable the role of the commander is changing a bit, at least according to Chari who spoke to Stephen Clark of spaceflightnow.com.

Chari on the commander-coach. (Credit: Spaceflightnow.com)

The commander needs to direct the crew in case of an emergency. Chari believes the commander is really not so much a technical role in these missions, as much as it is a coaching role.

Ah, Ted Lasso, the Sudeikis character in the Apple-TV+ series, who doesn’t know much about soccer when he is put in charge of a professional team in England. Lasso points out being a good leader, a good coach, is not based on technical knowledge. It’s team building and getting each player to reach their potential.

Jason Sudeikis as Coach Ted Lasso on the AppleTV+ series. (Credit: AppleTV+)

While Chari suggests this is now the significant role of the commander, it is not altogether new. Throughout the space program all astronauts have been extremely well-trained and a commander’s job is to keep them on track to accomplish the mission’s goal. It may be the commander has less to do in these fully automated vehicles. However, the coaching remains important.

NASA just used Crew-2's departure from the ISS to fly around the station taking pictures of key elements of the orbiting outpost. So maybe Chari will be afforded the same chance when he departs the ISS and actually fly his spacecraft.

Good luck, Ted.

(Cover photo credit: AppleTV+)