SSC15-I-6 Creativity: The Critical Element for Mission Success

Can creativity be the critical element for the success of a Space Mission? Problem solving methodologies, as brainstorming, are familiar for finding solutions to technical problems. The analytical skills to solve problems and the creativity required to invent new products may appear similar, but they are profoundly different. Creativity requires a different mindset than problem solving. In sectors where the engineering process depends on creative thinkers new ways of technology development need to be defined. The objective of the mission Rosetta to land on a comet is well defined. For most of cubesat missions, the problem is posed the other way around: to find an interesting application achievable with the strict resources of a cubesat. Creativity, more that problem solving, is the ‘rule of the game’ of cubesat. This paper presents how conventional approaches to problem solving can lead, for cubesat missions, to deadlock situations. Creativity, coupled with high tech engineering process, becomes a critical piece for finding new uses of cubesats, and therefore critical for securing the new missions. Moving from problem solving to a creative process has been experimented on the Hypercube, a hyperspectral instrument in a cubesat. The paper presents how to bring a mentality shift to evolve from problem solving to a creative environment, instrumental to face the challenges of the evolution of the small satellites.