Abstract
Man's presence in space has proved to be an extremely valuable asset. During the past thirty years of manned space flight there have been numerous instances where man's ingenuity, fortitude, ability to deal with the unexpected, weigh risks, anticipate potential problems, and propose potential solutions have been largely responsible for the success of the mission. Nevertheless, the value of man in space is limited; for it is largely determined by how much he can produce; his productivity, in turn, is determined not only by the intrinsic abilities that he brings to the job, but also by the work environment provided him. In short, it is the intent of this paper to discuss some of the concepts and recommendations under consideration by the Columbus Program's Crew Activities Office for improving the productivity of the flight crews' work environment; where gains in productivity are defined in terms of increased crew efficiency, decreased crew error, and decreased crew training requirements. In doing so, this paper will address such areas as the flight crews' activity planning, their workstation design, and their on-board training. This paper will draw heavily from past space experiences, from Skylab, Shuttle Spacelab, and Solyut missions. The concepts and recommendations proposed are the result of: (1) direct hands-on experience from former NASA, ESA, and Russian astronauts; (2) a time and motion study of a past Spacelab mission (performed to better understand where and how crews spend their time); or (3) multiple crew workstation and neutral buoyancy simulations.
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