Effects of the Space Shuttle Cockpit Avionics Upgrade on Crewmember Performance and Situation Awareness

Abstract

The Space Shuttle Cockpit Avionics Upgrade (CAU) is a proposed cockpit display upgrade designed to address human-factors usability issues of the current suite of cockpit displays, Multifunction Electronic Display System (MEDS). Unlike MEDS, CAU consolidates information in a task-oriented manner, rather than a data-source-oriented manner. CAU also makes greater use of color coding and graphical depictions in systems status presentations. An ascent-phase operation simulation study showed that CAU formats significantly improved the participants' abort-related situation awareness. Participants also performed certain malfunction management procedures more accurately when CAU was used. The Space Shuttles are now scheduled to be retired by 2010 without incorporating CAU; however, the results of the present study suggest that the human-centered design concepts are effective and can be extended to the cockpit interface design of NASA's next generation Crew Exploration Vehicle.

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