Search Results

Equivalent System Mass (ESM) is a metric used in Advanced Life Support (ALS) studies to evaluate and compare life support system technologies. Previous crew time ESM calculations considered only the amount of crew time required to perform a particular task without any interventions (stress events), i.e., they calculated static crew time. However, variations in time spent on operating and maintaining a life support system may occur due to performance fluctuations of the crew caused by a range of stress events experienced. Simulated crew performance calculations appear to suggest that crew time varies based on how each crewmember deals with stress events. Assigning a variable that accounts for such variation in crew time can be used in the crew selection process and for crew management strategies to better deal with inevitable stress events.

Long duration space mission crews will have to perform a myriad of tasks under extreme conditions for exploratory and settlement missions. The primary goal for any mission is the achievement of specific scientific endeavors and the maintenance of a safe crew environment. Stressors such as isolation, confinement, microgravity, extraneous work schedules, and crew heterogeneity are examples of elements that may alter the consistency of crew performance. It is critical to predict the influence of such stressors on crew performance for designing successful and safe mission scenarios. In order to assist in the future planning of long duration space missions, the Systems Integration, Modeling and Analysis team of the NJ-NSCORT has developed an interactive top-level model of an Advanced Life Support System (ALSS).

Social stressors in long-duration spaceflight (LDSF) have serious implications for crew effectiveness and mission safety. This paper reviews potential stressors and presents habitat and organizational design considerations to reduce perceived demand from social stressors in four areas: privacy and personal space, isolation, interpersonal interactions, and cultural differences. Results can serve as guidelines for the design of future LDSF missions and spacecraft, and will benefit attempts to develop an accurate model of stress in the spaceflight domain.

The ALS community faces unique challenges for the interactive modeling of a closed life support system. A top-level model is being developed as part of the System Studies and Modeling team of NJ-NSCORT. This top-level model has been broken down into several groups one of which is the ‘Human Requirements’ or ‘Human Factor’apos in an ALSS. This model examines the physical needs of crew members with respect to the effects of varying mission lengths, habitats and specific human characteristics. The model can be investigated independent of and interactive with the top-level model to examine the human factor using an object oriented approach. Through the object oriented programming language, Java, this model is meant to be accessible to the ALS community to aid in system analysis. This paper will explain the structure and examine the utility of the model with known requirements of humans in space.