Human factors addresses humans in their active and interactive capacities, i.e., in the mental and physical activities that they perform and in the contributions they make to achieving the goals of the mission. The overall goal of space human factors in NASA is to support the safety, productivity, and reliability of both the on-board crew and the ground support staff. Safety and reliability are fundamental requirements that human factors shares with other disciplines, while productivity represents the defining contribution of the human factors discipline

Connors, Mary M.

English

NASA Technical Reports Server

N92-22325
NASA Human Factors
Programmatic Overview
Mary M. Connors
NASA Ames Research Center
Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000
INTRODUCTION
Human factors addresses humans in their active
and interactive capacities, i.e., in the mental and
physical activities they perform and in the
contributions they make to achieving the goals of
the mission. The overall goal of space human
factors in NASA is to support the safety,
productivity and reliability of both the on-board
crew and the ground support staff. Safety and
reliability are fundamental requirements that
human factors shares with other disciplines,
while productivity represents the defining
contribution of the human factors discipline.
PROGRAMMATIC ORGANIZATION
AND DIRECTION
Space Human Factors in NASA forms an
essential component of two NASA HQ program
offices, each with a complementary role to play.
The Life Science Division of the Office of Space
Science and Applications (OSSA) looks at human
factors from a scientific perspective including
connections with the biomedical sciences. The
Life Science Division develops the human
requirements that must be addressed in space-
flight, including those associated with behavior
and performance. The Information Science and
Human Factors Division of the Office of
Aeronautics, Exploration and Technology
(OAET) is concerned with human factors as it
relates to the design, development and imple-
mentation of technology products. Here, an
understanding of humans' ability to use and
benefit from facilities and tools is a necessary
element of the technology research and develop-
ment process.
Human Factors has a special relationship to the
mission activities that must be performed, and
Human Factors programs begin with discipline-
oriented mission analyses. The general content
of the OSSA program is given in Figure 1. This
figure indicates the emphasis on basic understand-
understanding of human requirements and
capabilities as well as countermeasures to deal
with human limitations or negative effects due to
the space environment. Similar information for
the OAET program is given in Figure 2,
indicating an emphasis on crew station design
and on human performance modeling,
instrumentation for crew support, and integrated
systems.
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Life Sciences
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I Space IHuman Factors
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Psychophysiological Interactions
Fatigue/Sleep/CR
Behavioral Processes
Performance Capability
Workload Measurement
Habitability
Crew Factors
Human Machine Interaction
SeleetionG'raining
Stress/Crew Support
Figure I - OSSA Human Factors k.)nphases
Figure 2 also shows the OAET thrusts to which
these human factors elements relate. Since
human factors is a cross-cutting technology, the
program impacts all thrust areas. However,
i_jUpmanfactors has a special relationship to
erations (where the actions of the human
participants are central) and to Planetary Surface
Explorations (where, because of distance,
duration, and multiplicity of environments, the
demands on human participants take on special
importance).
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Crew Station D_lgn
Visual Science
- Cognition
- Inatrurnenqldlon
Human Performance
Moclola
Crow Support
Human Syaterml Integration
. Robotics and
Teleowatlon
Figure 2 - OAET Human Factors Emphases
In addition to its own internal planning, NASA
regularly seeks the advice of special panels to
help the Agency identify important issues and
needs. These panels are comprised of university,
industry, and government specialists. One such
panel is the Space Science and Technology
Advisory Committee (SSTAC). Figure 3
presents an abbreviated description of areas
recently identified by the Human Factors
subcommittee of SSTAC as representing
important and timely research undertakings. All
of the areas identified by SSTAC are contained
within the broad structure of the combined
Agency space human factors program, and their
annunciation by this subcommittee serves both to
confirm the approach being taken and to give
greater specificity to the identified research needs
and opportunities.
• Define and deelgfl human work environment
- Define and evaluate human living anvlronrnant
• Design support methods and tools
Identify human performance capablliltas and
limitations
Develop artificial reality and cognitive aids
Develop simulation end training technologies for
aklll and knowledge development end ratentlon
• Develop p/nyelcel augmentation and workstation
daell_ln concapta to enhance production
Figure 3 - High Priority Issues as Defined
by SSTAC
FIELD CENTER EMPHASES
Research within NASA is conducted primarily by
and through the field centers. Much of this
research is conducted in-house, with a significant
amount being conducted through university or
other granting arrangements. Human factors
activity can be found at all of the major NASA
centers• However, most space human factors
research and development is concentrated
between two centers: Ames Research Center
(ARC), Moffett Field, CA, and Johnson Space
Center (JSC), Houston TX. Work at the two
centers complements each other, both in the
nature of the approach taken and in areas of
special emphasis and expertise• At ARC, the
tendency is towards more development-based
research, allowing the building blocks of
understanding to be established, the extent and
limitations of results to be assessed, and the
space application to be developed. At JSC, the
tendency is towards more implenaentation-based
research, making a close connection with
particular flight needs, and utilizing the Center's
access to space simulation facilities and to the
astronaut corps. Neither center presents a pure
model but reflects, rather, a tendency or general
approach. Considerations that drive the
emphases also influence the location of specialty
areas within the human factors discipline.
Ames Research Center
• Crew Factors
• Fatigue and Circadian Rhythm
• Human-Computer Interactions
• Visualization Sciences/Models/Technologies
• Cognitive Models
• Virtual Environments
• 3-D Audio
................... 2?2_ _
Johnson Space Center [_
• Selection
• Crew Training
• Weightlessness Simulation
• Clinical Support _
• Models of Human Capabilities ti_
. Human;Computer Interfaces _
• Standards and Guidelines for Man.Systems t_
Figure 4 - Fiehl Center Emphases
Human factors specialties for both ARC and JSC
are given in Figure 4. At ARC, space research
on crew fatigue and circadian rhythm as well as
crew factors (crew communication and
coordination) are natural outgrowths of ongoing
aviation crew research, while in-house expertise
in perceptual and cognitive sciences provide the
435
foundation for development of crew support
tools such as virtual environments and 3-D audio
displays. At JSC, Center responsibility for
selection, training, and crew well-being translate
into research to support these requirements and to
the establishment of standards to guarantee them.
Both centers are strongly involved in developing
models to understand and design to human
requirements, while both also emphasize the
emerging and dominating importance of
human/computer interactions. Laboratory
facilities at each center, reflecting the research
areas described, are listed in Figure 5.
ARC Labs JSCLabl
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Figure 5 - Facilities at ARC and JSC
FROM RESEARCH TO OPERATIONS
A ubiquitous problem for all research
organizations involves transitioning research
results for use by real people doing real jobs.
This is a highly complex and dynamic under-
taking that requires, at a minimum, establishing a
partnership between two quite diverse commun-
ities. The importance and difficulties of moving
from research to operations has already been
raised several times in this conference and
deserves considerably more attention. However,
I would like to concentrate here, not on the broad
transition issue but on the narrower and slightly
different issue of how researchers themselves
might think about and structure their activities to
better position themselves (and their findings) for
eventual application to space.
Human factors researchers, like other researchers,
select their methods and approaches based on the
demands of the questions to be answered. Some
questions are best addressed in the highly
controlled environment of the laboratory; others
address contextual factors and must be studied in
the field. Frequently, a variety of approaches is
needed to fully understand the contributions of
the various elements. Figure 6 lists a number of
research approaches.
Development Testing and
Implementation
Flight Experlmentl
Anxlog Environmenlt
Tes¢bed$
F_/d Rese,t_ch
Scmulation
Modelfing
Lab Experimenla
Analysis
Figure 6 - Research Approaches
Application
Research
For the space human factors researcher the task is
to plan his or her activities to "move" the research
to where it can inform spaceflight. This means
both understanding the aspect of human behavior
being studied and understanding how environ-
ments might change this behavior. The former
without the latter is unusable; the latter without
the former is unsupportable. Taking one
example, a phenomenon might be examined
initially in the laboratory, modeled and verified
for generalizability, and tested ira the field. At
this point, a controlled investigation in an analog
environment or in space may be indicated. The
specific progression of the research will change
with the subject of investigation. However, in all
cases the mental set of the researcher must
include both building a solid scientific under-
standing and progressing towards the space
application.
SOAR '91
It is not possible in any one conference to discuss
all aspects of the NASA Space Human Factors
program as outlined in general terms above, In
this year's SOAR Conference, a small number of
topics have been selected for inclusion in the
Human Factors/Life Science track. The topics
selected fit the NASA perspective in the follow-
ing ways. The two sessions on Methods, Tools,
and Analysis provide an opportunity to discuss
and highlight recent advances in structural and
performance models and their utility in
understanding human performance in space. The
Virtual Reality session focuses our interests on
this new method of individually simulating a
desired environment. Such simulation can he
436
almost dimensionless and could be utilized, for
instance, in support of onboard training for a
Mars mission. The Human/Machine Interaction
session underscores the importance of the
emerging field of crew systems and the need to
understand the dynamics of these systems as
applied to separated and highly autonomous
crews. Although these topics define only a
subset of the ongoing NASA program, they are
important both in their own right and reflect a
confluence of interest and activity in NASA and
the Air Force.
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