Human Factors Support of Nasa's Safety Directorate on the Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF) Kennedy Space Center,FL

Abstract

A Human Factors Engineering (HFE) pilot project was undertaken by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on the Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF) at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida in 1991. It is to demonstrate the use of Human Factors in supporting the role of NASA Safety in achieving their objective of reducing the causes of accidents by helping to eliminate error producing situations. The initial phase of this endeavor consisted of a review of the design drawings for the SSPF, identifying all human factors concerns with special emphases on those which affected personnel safety, operational efficiency and hazards which might produce damage to expensive payloads. Where drawings did not completely disclose the characteristics of the intended operations, other facilities at the Kennedy Space Center were visited to obtain “Lessons Learned” insights that could be applied to the drawing critique. As Human Factors concerns and/or Safety issues were identified, they were discussed with the appropriate engineering personnel to effect a workable solution. During the lecture presentation, examples of identified HF & Safety deficiencies will be presented by the use of drawings, photographs in viewgraph form and a video of an accident to the Magellan Spacecraft. Discussion of the findings of the Magellan Spacecraft Mishap Review Board will elaborate on their conclusion that the lack of Human Factors Engineering was a major Contributor to this incident. A video segment showing an advanced and innovative Human Factors (HF) modeling technique will graphically demonstrate the potential application of conducting Human Engineering (HE) evaluations in conjunction with Engineering Prototyping in a Computer Aided Design (CAD) environment.