Human Factors and the International Space Station (original) (raw)
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Space Human Factors Advanced Development Projects
2002
The NASA Space Human Factors community engages in activities that range from basic research through advanced development projects to applications associated with ongoing programs such as the International Space Station and the Shuttle. This panel of NASA human factors specialists will present information relating to advanced development projects aimed at the creation of tools that can be applied to the analysis, design and evaluation of space vehicles and operations, and future space vehicle design concepts. The projects are: “The voice of the customer” - a description of the multiple pathways used to obtain astronaut information and opinion; International Space Station emergency medical procedure evaluation and redesign; the “magic windows” project which provides a multifunctional display system for operations and personal use on space vehicles and analogs; analytical approaches to digitally scanned crew member anthropometric data; crew member activity measurement, modeling and sch...
Human Factors in Space Station Architecture I
NASA Technical Memorandum (TM) 86702
The space station program is based on a set of premises developed from mission requirements and the operational capabilities of the Space Shuttle. These premises will influence the human behavioral factors and conditions on board the space station. These premises include: launch in the STS Orbiter payload bay, orbital characteristics, power supply, microgravity environment, autonomy from the ground, crew make-up and organization, distributed command and control, safety, and logistics resupply, The most immediate design impacts of these premises will be upon the architectural organization and internal environment of the space station.
Human Factors in space vehicle design
Acta Astronautica, 2013
Proper consideration of human needs in the design of space vehicles results in a safe and productive environment for crewmembers. This is particularly important for crew interfaces that are used during ascent and entry due to the demanding environmental conditions. The involvement of Human Factors (HF) engineers in the design and evaluation process ensures that Human-Systems Integration (HSI) begins early, and continues throughout the lifecycle of a vehicle. This paper highlights various aspects of the HSI process: establishment of HSI standards, the use of research to develop and refine challenging requirements and verification methods, partnering with research projects to drive evidence-based designs, and the value of applying HF methods and principles to design.
The Interesting Challenges of Designing for Humans in Space
Spool Cyber-physical Architecture, 2021
Extra-terrestrial living and working environments are characterized by significant challenges in logistics, environmental demands, engineering, social and psychological issues, to name a few. Everything is limited: physical volume, air, water, power, and medicine … everything, even people, and therefore all is treated as valuable resource. This situation is complicated by the end product being the result of balancing many competing interests. The relationship between humans, space, and technology is forced, as well as a dynamic process. Although mathematical models for complex systems exist, long-term effects are hard to predict, and even more so to calculate. Even if we had technological solutions for all hazards and threats, there would still be the question of how these subsystems work together, how they are perceived, and if they are accepted by the inhabitants. Habitability design is vital to the success of future space exploration. Research into the dynamic system of 'living together in an isolated and extreme environment for a long time' does not lead to a single common solution. Instead, designers are left trying to translate differing firstperson astronaut accounts into a solution bound by the constraints of physics, schedule, and cost. The early days of human spaceflight were all about discovery. Trying to replace conjecture with experience and fact. For example, the Moon was thought to have meters of soft dust that would swallow landing spacecraft. We have built on the successes and failures, but some achievements have also been forgotten. Today, we use these lessons to create effective designs for 'living together in the isolated and extreme environment (ICE)' of space. Following are descriptions of historical and newer examples of possible solutions that show what can be achieved when the demanding constraints of space inspire creative solutions for combining human needs with technological possibilities.
Beyond astronaut's capabilities: The current state of the art
Conference proceedings : ... Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. Annual Conference, 2015
Space agencies have developed extensive expertise with sustaining human presence in low earth orbits and microgravity. Prolonged human presence in space beyond EarthâĂŹs orbit presents additional, some still unsolved issues. These are linked to the distance to Earth (impossibility of effective tele-operation, psychological effects linked to remoteness from Earth, required autonomy, the handling of emergencies, long mission durations), and to the environments beyond the Earth magnetosphere (radiation levels, local environments including atmospheres, dust, gravity, day-night cycles). These issues have impacts on the spacecraft design, the mission operations, astronaut selection and preparation and required supporting/ enabling technologies. This paper builds upon previous work by Rossini et al. , in critically reviewing and updating the current state of scientific research on enhancing astronaut's capabilities to face some of these challenges [1]. In particular, it discusses the p...
Design Study for an Astronaut's Workstation
SAE Technical Paper Series, 2005
Restraints in space range between the simplicity of foot loops and the dissatisfaction of current restraints with a more welcome stabilization closer to the body's center of gravity. Although there is a line of upper thigh restraints, which come close to a terrestrial chair analogue, they are not currently implemented in design standards. In 1999 a team of architects and engineers at the University of Technology Munich developed a modular, foldable astronaut's workstation with integrated seat restraint. Prototypes were tested successfully on parabolic flights at NASA-JSC. In 2002 an exhibition model for the Space Station Mock-up at EADS Space in Bremen was ordered. Due to a limited budget, the original full aluminium design models had to be changed dramatically in construction to save costs. Nevertheless, the opportunity to rebuild the models for an exhibition has been taken, to study options to make the construction of the workstation much lighter. Although the limited budget did not allow to properly engineer some crucial details, the exhibition model allowed to test some alternative design approaches, resulting from the aftermath of the parabolic flights.
SAE Technical Paper Series, 2008
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has long applied standards-derived human engineering requirements to the development of hardware and software for use by astronauts while in flight. The most important source of these requirements has been NASA-STD-3000. While there have been several ground systems human engineering requirements documents, none has been applicable to the flight system as handled at NASA's launch facility at Kennedy Space Center. At the time of the development of previous human launch systems, there were other considerations that were deemed more important than developing worksites for ground crews; e.g., hardware development schedule and vehicle performance. However, experience with these systems has shown that failure to design for ground tasks has resulted in launch schedule delays, ground operations that are more costly than they might be, and threats to flight safety. As the Agency begins the development of new systems to return humans to the moon, the new Constellation Program is addressing this issue with a new set of human engineering requirements. Among these requirements is a subset that will apply to the design of the flight components and that is intended to assure ground crew success in vehicle assembly and maintenance tasks. These requirements address worksite design for usability and for ground crew safety.
Onboard the International Space Station to support the next phase of human space exploration
2013
Now that major assembly of the International Space Station (ISS) is complete, NASA’s focus has turned to using this high fidelity in-space research testbed to not only advance fundamental science research, but also demonstrate and mature technologies and develop operational concepts that will enable future human exploration missions beyond low Earth orbit. The ISS as a Testbed for Analog Research (ISTAR) project was established to reduce risks for manned missions to exploration destinations by utilizing ISS as a high fidelity micro-g laboratory to demonstrate technologies, operations concepts, and techniques associated with crew autonomous operations. One of these focus areas is the development and execution of ISS Testbed for Analog Research (ISTAR) autonomous flight crew procedures intended to increase crew autonomy that will be required for long duration human exploration missions. Due to increasing communications delays and reduced logistics resupply, autonomous procedures are e...
Sleeping with the Stars - The Design of a Personal Crew Quarter for the International Space Station
As the International Space Station (ISS) takes shape, the prospect of living in space for prolonged periods becomes a reality for a greater number of individuals. Crewmembers aboard the ISS will live alongside each other for months, in confined spaces, under difficult conditions. Living in a hermetic environment, with other individuals from a variety of cultural backgrounds, will inevitably cause stresses. The living environment must meet a variety of needs in order to be conducive to the well being of the individual and the crew community.