Search Results

Space Shuttle missions STS-40 and STS-47, with their respective payloads of Spacelab Life Sciences-1 (SLS-1) and Spacelab Japan 1 (SL-J), used NASA's Spacelab module to provide an additional shirt-sleeve environment for the accomplishment of scientific activities. The Spacelab Transfer Tunnel connected Spacelab to the Orbiter Middeck. It represented the only way to translate between the two volumes and so provided the opportunity to examine microgravity travel between two specified points. Analyses utilized video of astronaut movement through the tunnel during regularly scheduled mission operations. Descriptions of translation techniques were generated, and translation times were recorded. The crew provided insights into tunnel translation and design through questionnaires and interviews. The design of the tunnel was satisfactory.

The Human Factors Assessment of Orbiter Missions (Detailed Supplementary Objective 904) was conducted on STS-40 (Spacelab Life Sciences 1) in order to bring human factors into the operational world of manned space flight. This paper describes some of its methods. Included are explanations of general and space human factors, and a description of DSO 904 study objectives and results. The methods described include ways to collect background information for studies and also different in-flight data collection techniques. Several lessons for the space human factors engineer are reflected in this paper. First, method development is just as important as standards generation. Second, results of investigations should always have applicability to design. Third, cooperation with other NASA groups is essential. Finally, the human is the most important component of the space exploration system, and often the most difficult to study.

Throughout the manned-space programs of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), significant data has been gathered regarding how humans live and work in the environment encountered in space. Recording operational experience helps avoid duplication of errors, can improve the design of equipment and procedures, and can provide valuable insight into human-machine and human-environment interfaces. Several sources contain valuable information about living and working in space, but are in an uncoordinated paper format. A relational database, called the Operational Experience Database, has been constructed to electronically store and organize human factors information from the Skylab and Space Shuttle missions. The taxonomy used to organize this database builds on the one used for the Skylab human-machine experiments. This information can be used by NASA engineers and operations personnel to remedy design problems, or expand on design successes.