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NASA NTRS2004

Microgravity Investigation of Crew Reactions in 0-G (MICRO-G)

There is a need for a human factors, technology-based bioastronautics research effort to develop an integrated system that reduces risk and provides scientific knowledge of astronaut-induced loads and motions during long-duration missions on the International Space Station (ISS), which will lead to appropriate countermeasures. The primary objectives of the Microgravity Investigation of Crew Reactions in 0-G (MICRO-GI research effort are to quantify astronaut adaptation and movement as well as to model motor strategies for differing gravity environments. The overall goal of this research program is to improve astronaut performance and efficiency through the use of rigorous quantitative dynamic analysis, simulation and experimentation. The MICRO-G research effort provides a modular, kinetic and kinematic capability for the ISS. The collection and evaluation of kinematics (whole-body motion) and dynamics (reacting forces and torques) of astronauts within the ISS will allow for quantification of human motion and performance in weightlessness, gathering fundamental human factors information for design, scientific investigation in the field of dynamics and motor control, technological assessment of microgravity disturbances, and the design of miniaturized, real-time space systems. The proposed research effort builds on a strong foundation of successful microgravity experiments, namely, the EDLS (Enhanced Dynamics Load Sensors) flown aboard the Russian Mir space station (19961998) and the DLS (Dynamic Load Sensors) flown on Space Shuttle Mission STS-62. In addition, previously funded NASA ground-based research into sensor technology development and development of algorithms to produce three-dimensional (3-0) kinematics from video images have come to fruition and these efforts culminate in the proposed collaborative MICRO-G flight experiment. The required technology and hardware capitalize on previous sensor design, fabrication, and testing and can be flight qualified for a fraction of the cost of an initial spaceflight experiment. Four dynamic load sensors/restraints are envisioned for measurement of astronaut forces and torques. Two standard ISS video cameras record typical astronaut operations and prescribed IVA motions for 3-D kinematics. Forces and kinematics are combined for dynamic analysis of astronaut motion, exploiting the results of the detailed dynamic modeling effort for the quantitative verification of astronaut IVA performance, induced-loads, and adaptive control strategies for crewmember whole-body motion in microgravity. This comprehensive effort, provides an enhanced human factors approach based on physics-based modeling to identify adaptive performance during long-duration spaceflight, which is critically important for astronaut training as well as providing a spaceflight database to drive countermeasure design.

Newman, Dava↗

NASA NTRS2007

Exploration Blueprint: Data Book

The material contained in this report was compiled to capture the work performed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) Exploration study team in the late 2002 timeframe. The "Exploration Blueprint Data Book" documents the analyses and findings of the 90-day Agency-wide study conducted from September - November 2002. During the summer of 2002, the NASA Deputy Administrator requested that a study be performed with the following objectives: - Develop the rationale for exploration beyond low-Earth orbit - Develop roadmaps for how to accomplish the first steps through humans to Mars - Develop design reference missions as a basis for the roadmaps - Make recommendations on what can be done now to effect this future This planning team, termed the Exploration Blueprint, performed architecture analyses to develop roadmaps for how to accomplish the first steps beyond LEO through the human exploration of Mars. The previous NASA Exploration Team activities laid the foundation and framework for development of NASA's Integrated Space Plan. The reference missions resulting from the analysis performed by the Exploration Blueprint team formed the basis for requirement definition, systems development, technology roadmapping, and risk assessments for future human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit. Emphasis was placed on developing recommendations on what could be done now to effect future exploration activities. The Exploration Blueprint team embraced the "Stepping Stone" approach to exploration where human and robotic activities are conducted through progressive expansion outward beyond low-Earth orbit. Results from this study produced a long-term strategy for exploration with near-term implementation plans, program recommendations, and technology investments. Specific results included the development of a common exploration crew vehicle concept, a unified space nuclear strategy, focused bioastronautics research objectives, and an integrated human and robotic exploration strategy. Recommendations from the Exploration Blueprint included the endorsement of the Nuclear Systems Initiative, augmentation of the bioastronautics research, a focused space transportation program including heavy-lift launch and a common exploration vehicle design for ISS and exploration missions, as well as an integrated human and robotic exploration strategy for Mars.

Bret G Drake↗

NASA NTRS2006

Human Factors Engineering as a System in the Vision for Exploration

In order to accomplish NASA's Vision for Exploration, while assuring crew safety and productivity, human performance issues must be well integrated into system design from mission conception. To that end, a two-year Technology Development Project (TDP) was funded by NASA Headquarters to develop a systematic method for including the human as a system in NASA's Vision for Exploration. The specific goals of this project are to review current Human Systems Integration (HSI) standards (i.e., industry, military, NASA) and tailor them to selected NASA Exploration activities. Once the methods are proven in the selected domains, a plan will be developed to expand the effort to a wider scope of Exploration activities. The methods will be documented for inclusion in NASA-specific documents (such as the Human Systems Integration Standards, NASA-STD-3000) to be used in future space systems. The current project builds on a previous TDP dealing with Human Factors Engineering processes. That project identified the key phases of the current NASA design lifecycle, and outlined the recommended HFE activities that should be incorporated at each phase. The project also resulted in a prototype of a webbased HFE process tool that could be used to support an ideal HFE development process at NASA. This will help to augment the limited human factors resources available by providing a web-based tool that explains the importance of human factors, teaches a recommended process, and then provides the instructions, templates and examples to carry out the process steps. The HFE activities identified by the previous TDP are being tested in situ for the current effort through support to a specific NASA Exploration activity. Currently, HFE personnel are working with systems engineering personnel to identify HSI impacts for lunar exploration by facilitating the generation of system-level Concepts of Operations (ConOps). For example, medical operations scenarios have been generated for lunar habitation in order to identify HSI requirements for the lunar communications architecture. Throughout these ConOps exercises, HFE personnel are testing various tools and methodologies that have been identified in the literature. A key part of the effort is the identification of optimal processes, methods, and tools for these early development phase activities, such as ConOps, requirements development, and early conceptual design. An overview of the activities completed thus far, as well as the tools and methods investigated will be presented.

Mihriban Whitmore↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

An Analysis of Extended Reality Mockups for Use in Verification: Phase 2

NASA commercial providers are increasing their use of Virtual Reality (VR) and Hybrid Reality (HR) technologies in their system development process. The use of these technologies, collectively referred to as Extended Reality (XR) technologies, has been limited to the development phase, but there have been requests to integrate VR and HR mockups into verifications. Verifications require, at minimum, a high-fidelity mockup for activities involving human participation (tests, demonstrations, inspections). HR technology shares many of the strengths but may not share some of the critical shortcomings of VR. Specifically, HR allows for integrating physical objects, such as a suit, which may be critical to evaluating a system. Adopting HR technology still has many of the same challenges as VR. Namely, there is little to no data about the validity of evaluations conducted with HR mockups, an established process, or criteria for evaluating the appropriateness of HR mockups. Because verifications are final and only need to happen once, HR mockups must be adequately vetted before being approved for use in verifications. Further hindering the adoption of these technologies is the lack of consensus on what constitutes a high-fidelity XR mockup. Even for physical mockups, there are guidelines and common criteria, but nothing has been formalized. Discussion about when an XR mockup can be used would be greatly helped by clearly defining what a high-fidelity XR mockup is and how it might be measured. The team will engage with relevant stakeholders to learn more about the benefits and challenges of adopting hybrid reality mockups for verification. The team will build upon work from Phase 1 by maturing a framework to guide decisions for evaluating XR mockups for use in verifications. The team will also conduct experimental studies to evaluate advantages and tradeoffs of hybrid/mixed reality relative to physical and virtual reality mockups. Finally, data from Phase 1 and Phase 2 will be synthesized into a set of best practices for developing and validating XR mockups for verification. We will highlight the work conducted to date in Phase 2. We will present the status of the XR for Verification Framework, a summary of best practices identified thus far, and give a synopsis of future work.

verification testing↗

NASA NTRS1995

Summary of a Crew-Centered Flight Deck Design Philosophy for High-Speed Civil Transport (HSCT) Aircraft

Past flight deck design practices used within the U.S. commercial transport aircraft industry have been highly successful in producing safe and efficient aircraft. However, recent advances in automation have changed the way pilots operate aircraft, and these changes make it necessary to reconsider overall flight deck design. Automated systems have become more complex and numerous, and often their inner functioning is partially or fully opaque to the flight crew. Recent accidents and incidents involving autoflight system mode awareness Dornheim, 1995) are an example. This increase in complexity raises pilot concerns about the trustworthiness of automation, and makes it difficult for the crew to be aware of all the intricacies of operation that may impact safe flight. While pilots remain ultimately responsible for mission success, performance of flight deck tasks has been more widely distributed across human and automated resources. Advances in sensor and data integration technologies now make far more information available than may be prudent to present to the flight crew.

Palmer, Michael T.↗

NASA NTRS2012

Integration Science and Technology of Advanced Ceramics for Energy and Environmental Applications

The discovery of new and innovative materials has been known to culminate in major turning points in human history. The transformative impact and functional manifestation of new materials have been demonstrated in every historical era by their integration into new products, systems, assemblies, and devices. In modern times, the integration of new materials into usable products has a special relevance for the technological development and economic competitiveness of industrial societies. Advanced ceramic technologies dramatically impact the energy and environmental landscape due to potential wide scale applications in all aspects of energy production, storage, distribution, conservation, and efficiency. Examples include gas turbine propulsion systems, fuel cells, thermoelectrics, photovoltaics, distribution and transmission systems based on superconductors, nuclear power generation, and waste disposal. Robust ceramic integration technologies enable hierarchical design and manufacturing of intricate ceramic components starting with geometrically simpler units that are subsequently joined to themselves and/or to metals to create components with progressively higher levels of complexity and functionality. However, for the development of robust and reliable integrated systems with optimum performance under different operating conditions, the detailed understanding of various thermochemical and thermomechanical factors is critical. Different approaches are required for the integration of ceramic-metal and ceramic-ceramic systems across length scales (macro to nano). In this presentation, a few examples of integration of ceramic to metals and ceramic to ceramic systems will be presented. Various challenges and opportunities in design, fabrication, and testing of integrated similar (ceramic-ceramic) and dissimilar (ceramic-metal) material systems will be discussed. Potential opportunities and need for the development of innovative design philosophies, approaches, and integrated system testing under simulated application conditions will also be presented.

Singh, M.↗

NASA NTRS2006

A Strategy to Safely Live and Work in the Space Radiation Environment

The goal of the National Aeronautics and Space Agency and the Space Radiation Project is to ensure that astronauts can safely live and work in the space radiation environment. The space radiation environment poses both acute and chronic risks to crew health and safety, but unlike some other aspects of space travel, space radiation exposure has clinically relevant implications for the lifetime of the crew. The term safely means that risks are sufficiently understood such that acceptable limits on mission, post-mission and multi-mission consequences (for example, excess lifetime fatal cancer risk) can be defined. The Space Radiation Project strategy has several elements. The first element is to use a peer-reviewed research program to increase our mechanistic knowledge and genetic capabilities to develop tools for individual risk projection, thereby reducing our dependency on epidemiological data and population-based risk assessment. The second element is to use the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory to provide a ground-based facility to study the understanding of health effects/mechanisms of damage from space radiation exposure and the development and validation of biological models of risk, as well as methods for extrapolation to human risk. The third element is a risk modeling effort that integrates the results from research efforts into models of human risk to reduce uncertainties in predicting risk of carcinogenesis, central nervous system damage, degenerative tissue disease, and acute radiation effects. To understand the biological basis for risk, we must also understand the physical aspects of the crew environment. Thus the fourth element develops computer codes to predict radiation transport properties, evaluate integrated shielding technologies and provide design optimization recommendations for the design of human space systems. Understanding the risks and determining methods to mitigate the risks are keys to a successful radiation protection strategy.

Corbin, Barbara J.↗

NASA NTRS2009

Human Research Program Integrated Research Plan

The Integrated Research Plan (IRP) describes the portfolio of Human Research Program (HRP) research and technology tasks. The IRP is the HRP strategic and tactical plan for research necessary to meet HRP requirements. The need to produce an IRP is established in HRP-47052, Human Research Program - Program Plan, and is under configuration management control of the Human Research Program Control Board (HRPCB). Crew health and performance is critical to successful human exploration beyond low Earth orbit. The Human Research Program (HRP) is essential to enabling extended periods of space exploration because it provides knowledge and tools to mitigate risks to human health and performance. Risks include physiological and behavioral effects from radiation and hypogravity environments, as well as unique challenges in medical support, human factors, and behavioral or psychological factors. The Human Research Program (HRP) delivers human health and performance countermeasures, knowledge, technologies and tools to enable safe, reliable, and productive human space exploration. Without HRP results, NASA will face unknown and unacceptable risks for mission success and post-mission crew health. This Integrated Research Plan (IRP) describes HRP s approach and research activities that are intended to address the needs of human space exploration and serve HRP customers and how they are integrated to provide a risk mitigation tool. The scope of the IRP is limited to the activities that can be conducted with the resources available to the HRP; it does not contain activities that would be performed if additional resources were available. The timescale of human space exploration is envisioned to take many decades. The IRP illustrates the program s research plan through the timescale of early lunar missions of extended duration.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS2018

The Next Wave: Humans, Computers, and Redefining Reality

The Augmented/Virtual Reality (AVR) Lab at KSC is dedicated to " exploration into the growing computer fields of Extended Reality and the Natural User Interface (it is) a proving ground for new technologies that can be integrated into future NASA projects and programs." The topics of Human Computer Interface, Human Computer Interaction, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, and Mixed Reality are defined; examples of work being done in these fields in the AVR Lab are given. Current new and future work in Computer Vision, Speech Recognition, and Artificial Intelligence are also outlined.

Extended Reality↗

NASA NTRS2014

NextGen Technologies on the FAA's Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System

This paper describes the integration, evaluation, and results from a high-fidelity human-in-the-loop (HITL) simulation of key NASA Air Traffic Management Technology Demonstration - 1 (ATD- 1) technologies implemented in an enhanced version of the FAA's Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS) platform. These ATD-1 technologies include: (1) a NASA enhanced version of the FAA's Time-Based Flow Management, (2) a NASA ground-based automation technology known as controller-managed spacing (CMS), and (3) a NASA advanced avionics airborne technology known as flight-deck interval management (FIM). These ATD-1 technologies have been extensively tested in large-scale HITL simulations using general-purpose workstations to study air transportation technologies. These general purpose workstations perform multiple functions and are collectively referred to as the Multi-Aircraft Control System (MACS). Researchers at NASA Ames Research Center and Raytheon collaborated to augment the STARS platform by including CMS and FIM advisory tools to validate the feasibility of integrating these automation enhancements into the current FAA automation infrastructure. NASA Ames acquired three STARS terminal controller workstations, and then integrated the ATD-1 technologies. HITL simulations were conducted to evaluate the ATD-1 technologies when using the STARS platform. These results were compared with the results obtained when the ATD-1 technologies were tested in the MACS environment. Results collected from the numerical data show acceptably minor differences, and, together with the subjective controller questionnaires showing a trend towards preferring STARS, validate the ATD-1/STARS integration.

air traffic management↗

NASA NTRS2004

The Need for Analogue Missions in Scientific Human and Robotic Planetary Exploration

With the increasing challenges of planetary missions, and especially with the prospect of human exploration of the moon and Mars, the need for earth-based mission simulations has never been greater. The current focus on science as a major driver for planetary exploration introduces new constraints in mission design, planning, operations, and technology development. Analogue missions can be designed to address critical new integration issues arising from the new science-driven exploration paradigm. This next step builds on existing field studies and technology development at analogue sites, providing engineering, programmatic, and scientific lessons-learned in relatively low-cost and low-risk environments. One of the most important outstanding questions in planetary exploration is how to optimize the human and robotic interaction to achieve maximum science return with minimum cost and risk. To answer this question, researchers are faced with the task of defining scientific return and devising ways of measuring the benefit of scientific planetary exploration to humanity. Earth-based and spacebased analogue missions are uniquely suited to answer this question. Moreover, they represent the only means for integrating science operations, mission operations, crew training, technology development, psychology and human factors, and all other mission elements prior to final mission design and launch. Eventually, success in future planetary exploration will depend on our ability to prepare adequately for missions, requiring improved quality and quantity of analogue activities. This effort demands more than simply developing new technologies needed for future missions and increasing our scientific understanding of our destinations. It requires a systematic approach to the identification and evaluation of the categories of analogue activities. This paper presents one possible approach to the classification and design of analogue missions based on their degree of fidelity in ten key areas. Various case studies are discussed to illustrate the approach.

Snook, K. J.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Sensitivity Analysis of Heat Rejection and Propellant Management Technologies for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Architectures

Cryogenic fluid management (CFM) technologies are very important for enabling a wider range of missions to utilize space nuclear propulsion (SNP) concepts such as nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP). Technologies for thermal and cryogenic propellant management allow for vehicles to take full advantage of the higher efficiency NTP systems for longer duration human interplanetary and deep space robotic missions. Currently, the CFM Portfolio Project at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is developing thermal and propellant management technologies needed for SNP. When developing these technologies, it is important to understand the sensitivities of key performance parameters (KPPs) at the system and overall mission level due to the ways the technologies interact with each other, other subsystems, and influence the overall vehicle. The Advanced Concepts Office (ACO) at NASA-MSFC was tasked with building an integrated system model of a human Mars NTP mission to evaluate the impacts and sensitivities of CFM technologies on the overall vehicle and mission. This paper will cover the buildup of the model and highlight major sensitivities and breakpoints encountered, as well as future work in improving the existing models and sensitivities being evaluated.

Robert J. Hetterich↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Sensitivity Analysis of Heat Rejection and Propellant Management Technologies for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Architectures

Robert J Hetterich↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Objective Measurement Assessment of Departure Advisories for Ramp Controllers from a Human-In-The-Loop Simulation

NASA has developed and demonstrated an integrated arrival, departure, and surface concept and technology for efficient air traffic management in busy terminal environments under the Airspace Technology Demonstration 2 (ATD-2) subproject. In April/May 2019, NASA conducted a human-in-the-loop (HITL) simulation with ramp and tower controllers having experience at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW). The purpose of this HITL was to evaluate the impacts of various surface metering goals in ramp operations at DFW and test new features of the ATD-2 ramp controller decision support tools. This paper evaluates the quantitative metrics from the simulation results related to airport performance and surface metering given various departure scheduling advisories for ramp controllers. The objective measurements compared include the controller’s compliance with the target times for pushback and spot arrival, the number of metered flights, aircraft gate hold and taxi time, runway throughput, and the number of aircraft on the surface. The simulation results show that there were no statistically significant benefits from surface metering at DFW for airport performance due to several simulation artifacts notably different from real operations. Considering controller workload and situation awareness, following either gate pushback or spot arrival advisory could be a better metering option than utilizing both advisories when surface metering is applied at DFW.

airport ramp traffic control decision support↗

NASA NTRS2012

Innovative Technologies for Global Space Exploration

Under the direction of NASA's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD), Directorate Integration Office (DIO), The Tauri Group with NASA's Technology Assessment and Integration Team (TAIT) completed several studies and white papers that identify novel technologies for human exploration. These studies provide technical inputs to space exploration roadmaps, identify potential organizations for exploration partnerships, and detail crosscutting technologies that may meet some of NASA's critical needs. These studies are supported by a relational database of more than 400 externally funded technologies relevant to current exploration challenges. The identified technologies can be integrated into existing and developing roadmaps to leverage external resources, thereby reducing the cost of space exploration. This approach to identifying potential spin-in technologies and partnerships could apply to other national space programs, as well as international and multi-government activities. This paper highlights innovative technologies and potential partnerships from economic sectors that historically are less connected to space exploration. It includes breakthrough concepts that could have a significant impact on space exploration and discusses the role of breakthrough concepts in technology planning. Technologies and partnerships are from NASA's Technology Horizons and Technology Frontiers game-changing and breakthrough technology reports as well as the External Government Technology Dataset, briefly described in the paper. The paper highlights example novel technologies that could be spun-in from government and commercial sources, including virtual worlds, synthetic biology, and human augmentation. It will consider how these technologies can impact space exploration and will discuss ongoing activities for planning and preparing them.

Hay, Jason↗

NASA NTRS2013

Wearable Technology

Wearable technology projects, to be useful, in the future, must be seamlessly integrated with the Flight Deck of the Future (F.F). The lab contains mockups of space vehicle cockpits, habitat living quarters, and workstations equipped with novel user interfaces. The Flight Deck of the Future is one element of the Integrated Power, Avionics, and Software (IPAS) facility, which, to a large extent, manages the F.F network and data systems. To date, integration with the Flight Deck of the Future has been limited by a lack of tools and understanding of the Flight Deck of the Future data handling systems. To remedy this problem it will be necessary to learn how data is managed in the Flight Deck of the Future and to develop tools or interfaces that enable easy integration of WEAR Lab and EV3 products into the Flight Deck of the Future mockups. This capability is critical to future prototype integration, evaluation, and demonstration. This will provide the ability for WEAR Lab products, EV3 human interface prototypes, and technologies from other JSC organizations to be evaluated and tested while in the Flight Deck of the Future. All WEAR Lab products must be integrated with the interface that will connect them to the Flight Deck of the Future. The WEAR Lab products will primarily be programmed in Arduino. Arduino will be used for the development of wearable controls and a tactile communication garment. Arduino will also be used in creating wearable methane detection and warning system.

Watson, Amanda↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA Envisioned Future Priorities for In-Space Transportation

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the United States of America (US) has ambitious objectives for robust logistics solutions to commercialization of geocentric space, sustainable presence in Cislunar space and on the Lunar Surface, Human Mars exploration and expanded deep space robotic exploration. Critical to all these objectives are robust and affordable in-space transportation solutions. Resilient logistics is a precursor to sustained development and leveraging commercial investments. A range of near-term priority investments are required to enable the future envisioned state for In-Space Transportation. Advanced technology components and integrated system demonstrations for cryogenic fluid management are appropriate for viable human class propulsion and future leverage of In-Situ Resources Utilization propellant products. Space Nuclear Propulsion, both thermal and electric, investments enable human Mars exploration with reduced earth launches. Advanced propulsion investments enable lower cost development cycles and operations in addition to higher performance solutions for future robotic and extreme environment exploration. This paper provides a high-level overview of NASA’s plans for the development of in-space transportation capabilities, a description of the state-of-the-art, capability goals, technical challenges and gaps, and options for partnerships with industry and other agencies towards developing a robust power logistics infrastructure to support NASA’s objectives.

Propulsion↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA Envisioned Future Priorities for In-Space Transportation

Propulsion↗