Manual control aspects of orbital flight

Studies of spacecraft rendezvous and docking operations began in the Gemini program in preparation for the two dockings required to send a crew to the moon and return them safely to Earth. However, the goal of getting to the moon before the end of the decade was of greater concern than mission optimization so little or no time or money was expended in researching human factors implications of operational aspects such as braking gates or control modes. Also, with sixteen operational dockings over a six year period (12 Apollo, 3 Skylab, and 1 ASTP) in the United States space program, economies of scale were not yet available to justify extensive research into decreasing the time or fuel necessary for a successful docking. With an operational space station era approaching in which orbital maneuvering vehicle (OMV), orbital transfer vehicle (OTV), shuttle orbiter, and other traffic will play a major role, a concerted research effort now could help avoid many potential problems later in addition to increasing safety, fuel economy, and productivity. A knowledge of manual control capabilities associated with piloted spaceflight could help save a life if the operational flight envelope can be safely enlarged to include faster dockings that currently envisioned. For example, current and future research is designed to acquire the appropriate information.