Habitability Assessment of International Space Station (ISS Habitability) Final Report

Poorly designed habitats and vehicles reduce crew safety, introduce inefficiencies and errors, and reduce satisfaction. It is therefore important to study and characterize habitability and human factors on board the International Space Station (ISS) to improve future vehicle and habitat design.

This report describes the research performed under the directed research project titled Habitability Assessment of International Space Station (ISS Habitability) Human Factors and Behavioral Performance (HFBP). The aim of the study was to address the Risk of an Incompatible Vehicle/Habitat Design, and researchers collected and analyzed data about human factors and habitability on board the ISS and made recommendations for redesign of future vehicles. The participants of the study used two custom iPad applications: they recorded observations about their living and working environment using the Space Habitability Observation Reporting Tool (iSHORT), and they responded to questionnaires on the iQuestion and Answer (iQ&A) application. Six ISS crewmembers participated in the study; one crewmember spent a year on the ISS and the other five crewmembers spent six months on board. Participants collected data throughout their missions: they were asked to capture observations about their environment about once every two weeks; to capture a video as they passed through an area of ISS about once per month; to narrate a task about once per month; to complete a human factors and habitability questionnaire three times during the mission; and to participate in a conference with the investigator’s team after they had filled out each questionnaire. Content analysis was used to categorize the data, draw general conclusions, and make recommendations for future vehicle and habitat designs.