NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
Design and VerificationAs future space missions become longer, an important aspect to consider is the habitability of the spacecraft. The amount of habitable volume affects not only astronaut comfort, but safety and mission success as well. However, as the volume is increased to aid in task performance, the weight of the vehicle and cost of the mission escalates in proportion. Pressure to reduce mission cost is constant, but the risk to mission success and crew survival must remain the priorities. The Constellation Program's Altair Lunar Lander is designed for short duration surface operation missions of seven to ten days. For short duration missions, humans will tolerate fairly primitive environmental situations provided the basic physiological arrangements are acceptable. However, for long-duration lunar surface operations, the living and operational spaces within which the crew work must provide both the essentials of life, as well as the support necessary for the crew to be productive in accomplishing their mission. The Altair is still in the preliminary design phase, which is the optimal time for Human Factors data to be provided to designers and engineers. A Human Centered Design (HCD) approach is being taken with our Human Factors evaluations. Human-in-the-loop testing is conducted using low-medium fidelity mock-ups of proposed lunar architecture. Based on current ConOps (Concept of Operations) procedures, a task analysis is performed in which individual tasks are combined into larger operational scenarios. Subjective and objective performance measures are gathered at both the task and scenario level. These scores are used to determine the functionality of the vehicle in terms of task performance. Results from these evaluations will highlight areas for design or operational improvement.
Document ID
20080043861
Acquisition Source
Johnson Space Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Thompson, Shelby G.
(NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)
Howard, Robert L., Jr.
(NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)
Litaker, Harry L., Jr.
(NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)
Date Acquired
August 24, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2008
Subject Category
Man/System Technology And Life Support
Meeting Information
Meeting: 80th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Aerospace Medical Association
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Country: United States
Start Date: May 3, 2009
End Date: May 7, 2009
Sponsors: Aerospace Medical Association
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available