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Stambolian, Damon B.

Publications and source records attributed to Stambolian, Damon B..

Human Systems Engineering for Launch processing at Kennedy Space Center (KSC)

Launch processing at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is primarily accomplished by human users of expensive and specialized equipment. In order to reduce the likelihood of human error, to reduce personal injuries, damage to hardware, and loss of mission the design process for the hardware needs to include the human's relationship with the hardware. Just as there is electrical, mechanical, and fluids, the human aspect is just as important. The focus of this presentation is to illustrate how KSC accomplishes the inclusion of the human aspect in the design using human centered hardware modeling and engineering. The presentations also explain the current and future plans for research and development for improving our human factors analysis tools and processes.

Henderson, Gena

Avionics Box Cold Plate Damage Prevention

Problem Introduction: 1. Prevent Cold Plate Damage in Space Shuttle. 1a. The number of cold plate problems had increased from an average of 16.5 per/year between 1990 through 2000, to an average of 39.6 per year between 2001through 2005. 1b. Each complete set of 80 cold plates cost approximately $29 million, an average of $362,500 per cold plate. 1c It takes four months to produce a single cold plate. 2. Prevent Cold Plate Damage in Future Space Vehicles.

Stambolian, Damon B.

Lessons Learned for Improving Spacecraft Ground Operations

NASA has a unique history in processing the Space Shuttle fleet for launches. Some of this experience has been captured in the NASA Lessons Learned Information System (LLIS). This tool provides a convenient way for design engineers to review lessons from the past to prevent problems from reoccurring and incorporate positive lessons in new designs. At the Kennedy Space Center, the LLIS is being used to design ground support equipment for the next generation of launch and crewed vehicles. This paper describes the LLIS process and offers some examples.

Bell, Michael A.

Human Factors Operability Timeline Analysis to Improve the Processing Flow of the Orion Spacecraft

This slide presentation reviews the use of Human factors and timeline analysis to have a more efficient and effective processing flow. The solution involved developing a written timeline of events that included each activity within each functional flow block. Each activity had computer animation videos and pictures of the people involved and the hardware. The Human Factors Engineering Analysis Tool (HFEAT) was improved by modifying it to include the timeline of events. The HFEAT was used to define the human factors requirements and design solutions were developed for these requirements. An example of a functional flow block diagram is shown, and a view from one of the animations (i.e., short stack pallet) is shown and explained.

Stambolian, Damon B.

Human Factors Analysis to Improve the Processing of Ares-1 Launch Vehicle

This slide presentation reviews the use of Human Factors analysis in improving the ground processing procedures for the Ares-1 launch vehicle. The light vehicle engineering designers for Ares-l launch vehicle had to design the flight vehicle for effective, efficient and safe ground operations in the cramped dimensions in a rocket design. The use of a mockup of the area where the technician would be required to work proved to be a very effective method to promote the collaboration between the Ares-1 designers and the ground operations personnel.

Stambolian, Damon B.

1-G Human Factors for Optimal Processing and Operability of Ground Systems Up to CxP GOP PDR

This slide presentation reviews the development and use of a process and tool for developing these requirements and improve the design for ground operations. A Human Factors Engineering Analysis (HFEA) Tool was developed to create a dedicated subset of requirements from the FAA requirements for each subsystem. As an example the use of the human interface with an actuator motor is considered.

Stambolian, Damon B.

Human Factors Analysis to Improve the Processing of Ares-1 Launch Vehicle

The Constellation Program (CxP) is composed of an array of vehicles used to go to the Moon and Mars. The Ares vehicle one of the components of CxP, goes through several stages of processing before it is launched at the Kennedy Space Center. In order to have efficient and effective ground processing inside and outside the vehicle, all of the ground processing activities should be analyzed. The analysis for this program was performed, by engineers, technicians, and human factors experts with spacecraft processing experience. The procedure used to gather data was accomplished by observing human activities within physical mockups. The paper will focus on the procedures, analysis and results from these observations.

Dippolito, Gregory M.

Human Modeling for Ground Processing Human Factors Engineering Analysis

There have been many advancements and accomplishments over the last few years using human modeling for human factors engineering analysis for design of spacecraft. The key methods used for this are motion capture and computer generated human models. The focus of this paper is to explain the human modeling currently used at Kennedy Space Center (KSC), and to explain the future plans for human modeling for future spacecraft designs

Stambolian, Damon B.

1-G Human Factors for Optimal Processing and Operability of Ground Systems up to CxP GOP PDR

During the mid stages of design development, up to Constellation Program (CxP) Preliminary Design Review (PDR), the requirements for leveraging I-G human factors for optimizing ground processing of Flight Hardware were mature for levels - 2, 3, 4, and 5. This paper gives an overview of the accomplishments achieved during that time. The main focus of this paper will be on the CxP Ground Operations Project human factors engineering analysis process using a Human Factors Engineering Analysis Tool (HFEAT) for developing the level- 5 requirements effecting the design development of the subsystems for Ground Support System (GSS), and Ground Support Equipment (GSE).

Stambolian, Damon B.

Human Factors Operability Timeline Analysis to Improve the Processing Flow of the Orion Spacecraft

The Constellation Program (CxP) Orion vehicle goes through several areas and stages of processing before its launched at the Kennedy Space Center. In order to have efficient and effective processing, all of the activities need to be analyzed. This was accomplished by first developing a timeline of events that included each activity, and then each activity was analyzed by operability experts and human factors experts with spacecraft processing experience. This papers focus is to explain the results and the process for developing this human factors operability timeline analysis to improve the processing flow of Orion.

Schlierf, Roland

The First Development of Human Factors Engineering Requirements for Application to Ground Task Design for a NASA Flight Program

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has long applied standards-derived human engineering requirements to the development of hardware and software for use by astronauts while in flight. The most important source of these requirements has been NASA-STD-3000. While there have been several ground systems human engineering requirements documents, none has been applicable to the flight system as handled at NASA's launch facility at Kennedy Space Center. At the time of the development of previous human launch systems, there were other considerations that were deemed more important than developing worksites for ground crews; e.g., hardware development schedule and vehicle performance. However, experience with these systems has shown that failure to design for ground tasks has resulted in launch schedule delays, ground operations that are more costly than they might be, and threats to flight safety. As the Agency begins the development of new systems to return humans to the moon, the new Constellation Program is addressing this issue with a new set of human engineering requirements. Among these requirements is a subset that will apply to the design of the flight components and that is intended to assure ground crew success in vehicle assembly and maintenance tasks. These requirements address worksite design for usability and for ground crew safety.

Dischinger, H. Charles, Jr.

Analysis of In-Space Assembly of Modular Systems

Early system-level life cycle assessments facilitate cost effective optimization of system architectures to enable implementation of both modularity and in-space assembly, two key Exploration Systems Research & Technology (ESR&T) Strategic Challenges. Experiences with the International Space Station (ISS) demonstrate that the absence of this rigorous analysis can result in increased cost and operational risk. An effort is underway, called Analysis of In-Space Assembly of Modular Systems, to produce an innovative analytical methodology, including an evolved analysis toolset and proven processes in a collaborative engineering environment, to support the design and evaluation of proposed concepts. The unique aspect of this work is that it will produce the toolset, techniques and initial products to analyze and compare the detailed, life cycle costs and performance of different implementations of modularity for in-space assembly. A multi-Center team consisting of experienced personnel from the Langley Research Center, Johnson Space Center, Kennedy Space Center, and the Goddard Space Flight Center has been formed to bring their resources and experience to this development. At the end of this 30-month effort, the toolset will be ready to support the Exploration Program with an integrated assessment strategy that embodies all life-cycle aspects of the mission from design and manufacturing through operations to enable early and timely selection of an optimum solution among many competing alternatives. Already there are many different designs for crewed missions to the Moon that present competing views of modularity requiring some in-space assembly. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the approach for scoring competing designs.

Moses, Robert W.