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Challenges to Health During Deep Space Exploration Missions

Long duration missions outside of low Earth orbit will present unique challenges to the maintenance of human health. Stressors with physiologic and psychological impacts are inherent in exploration missions, including reduced gravity, increased radiation, isolation, limited habitable volume, circadian disruptions, and cabin atmospheric changes. Operational stressors such as mission timeline and extravehicular activities must also be considered, and these varied stressors may act in additive or synergistic fashions. Should changes to physiology or behavior manifest as a health condition, the rendering of care in an exploration environment must also be considered. Factors such as the clinical background of the crew, inability to evacuate to Earth in a timely manner, communication delay, and limitations in available medical resources will have an impact on the assessment and treatment of these conditions. The presentations associated with this panel will address these unique challenges from the perspective of several elements of the NASA Human Research Program, including Behavioral Health and Performance, Human Health Countermeasures, Space Radiation, and Exploration Medical Capability.

Watkins, S.↗

Sensor Technologies on Flexible Substrates

NASA Ames has developed sensor technologies on flexible substrates integrated into textiles for personalized environment monitoring and human performance evaluation. Current technologies include chemical sensing for gas leak and event monitoring and biological sensors for human health and performance monitoring. Targeted integration include next generation EVA suits and flexible habitats.

sensors↗

Humans on the International Space Station-How Research, Operations, and International Collaboration are Leading to New Understanding of Human Physiology and Performance in Microgravity

As the International Space Station (ISS) nears completion, and full international utilization is achieved, we are at a scientific crossroads. ISS is the premier location for research aimed at understanding the effects of microgravity on the human body. For applications to future human exploration, it is key for validation, quantification, and mitigation of a wide variety of spaceflight risks to health and human performance. Understanding and mitigating these risks is the focus of NASA s Human Research Program. However, NASA s approach to defining human research objectives is only one of many approaches within the ISS international partnership (including Roscosmos, the European Space Agency, the Canadian Space Agency, and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency). Each of these agencies selects and implements their own ISS research, with independent but related objectives for human and life sciences research. Because the science itself is also international and collaborative, investigations that are led by one ISS partner also often include cooperative scientists from around the world. The operation of the ISS generates significant additional data that is not directly linked to specific investigations. Such data comes from medical monitoring of crew members, life support and radiation monitoring, and from the systems that have been implemented to protect the health of the crew (such as exercise hardware). We provide examples of these international synergies in human research on ISS and highlight key early accomplishments that derive from these broad interfaces. Taken as a whole, the combination of diverse research objectives, operational data, international sharing of research resources on ISS, and scientific collaboration provide a robust research approach and capability that no one partner could achieve alone.

Ronbinson, Julie A.↗

Working Time and Fatigue Management

There are physiological limits to human performance, influenced by the internal programming of the sleep homeostat and circadian rhythms. This presentation will provide information about the physiology underlying fatigue, and provide some strategies for better sleep and for managing alertness on the job. This presentation will be provided to personnel at Kennedy Space Center.

fatigue↗

Shiftwork and Managing Fatigue

There are physiological limits to human performance influenced by the internal programming of the sleep homeostat and circadian rhythms. The presentation will provide information about the physiology underlying fatigue, and provide some strategies for better sleep and for managing alertness on the job. This presentation was originally provided to engineers, technicians and other personnel at Stennis Space Center supporting the accelerated Green Run project (March 2020).

shiftwork↗

Utilizing Gaps and Performance Measures to Inform NASA Environmental Control and Life Support Systems and Human Health and Performance Capability Technology Decisions

Human spaceflight is a complex endeavor requiring multiple capabilities for transportation, crew health, scientific goals, and safe return to Earth. The difference between spaceflight proven capabilities and those needed for future exploration architectures is defined as a capability gap. Capability gaps are not technology specific. Each capability gap may be closed with a wide array of technologies that have unique benefits and challenges. Determining what a capability’s relevant and distinguishing key performance parameters (KPPs) are for a mission is critical. Mass, power, and volume are always constrained and important, but defining these in a way normalized by performance is very important. KPP definition for reliability, dormancy, and integration needs are hard to define but critical. Outside of technical considerations, the programmatic factors of the estimated time to develop the technology and how the technology validation objectives are matured are strong considerations in which technologies should be pursued and how they should leverage earlier mission elements. The Environmental Control and Life Support (ECLSS) and Crew Health and Performance (CHP) capability areas are decomposed to high level gaps. While KPPs should be technology agnostic, they can be used to both compare technologies and measure progress of technology development over time. KPPs help define when the gap is closed, and the core mission objectives can be accomplished. Proposed technology improvements to enhance a capability should balance improved KPPs and against investments in other capabilities that are not yet closed. A selection of gaps, KPPs, and validation objectives and their formulation, current state, and how they inform capability roadmap planning are discussed.

Life Support↗

Trade Space Analyses: Balancing Crew and Mission Design Parameters

In 2020, the Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations and the Agency’s Federated Board requested an assessment to develop a methodology for trade space analysis comparing crew size for Mars missions against mission design parameters. The NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) conducted an assessment to develop a methodology for systematic, repeatable trade space analysis for crew size and developed an initial set of human performance models and a list of candidate crew tasks for NASA’s first mission to Mars. This report contains the results of the NESC assessment.

Humans to Mars↗

Examining the Relationship between Self-Reported Workload and Resilient Performance in Airline Flight Crews

Workload has long been associated with human performance in aviation. High workload is typically viewed as a system design problem. The aim of this work was to find observable behaviors that guard cognitive resource margins; thus, improve handling of perturbations that arise. Twelve commercial airline flight crews participated in an experiment at NASA Langley Research Center. We explored workload data (NASA Task Load Index) self-reported after completing flight simulation scenarios to see how different individuals, using the same technologies, cope with challenging situations. A trained observer from the same airline as the study participants assessed performance. We differentiated a lower workload crew from a higher workload crew and analyzed their workload and performance. Results indicate that the workload may be a component of pilots’ resilient performance. Initial strategies that reduced workload were classified and these types of behaviors, if implemented correctly, might assist pilots in maintaining functional workload resource margins.

Michael Stewart↗

Examining the Relationship Between Workload and Resilient Performance in Airline Flight Crews

Workload has long been associated with human performance in aviation. High workload is typically viewed as a system design problem. The aim of this work was to find observable behaviors that guard cognitive resource margins; thus, improve handling of perturbations that arise. Twelve commercial airline flight crews participated in an experiment at NASA Langley Research Center. We explored workload data (NASA Task Load Index) self-reported after completing flight simulation scenarios to see how different individuals, using the same technologies, cope with challenging situations. A trained observer from the same airline as the study participants assessed performance. We differentiated a lower workload crew from a higher workload crew and analyzed their workload and performance. Results indicate that the workload may be a component of pilots’ resilient performance. Initial strategies that reduced workload were classified and these types of behaviors, if implemented correctly, might assist pilots in maintaining functional workload resource margins.

Michael Stewart↗

Engineering data compendium. Human perception and performance, volume 3

The concept underlying the Engineering Data Compendium was the product of a research and development program (Integrated Perceptual Information for Designers project) aimed at facilitating the application of basic research findings in human performance to the design of military crew systems. The principal objective was to develop a workable strategy for: (1) identifying and distilling information of potential value to system design from existing research literature, and (2) presenting this technical information in a way that would aid its accessibility, interpretability, and applicability by system designers. The present four volumes of the Engineering Data Compendium represent the first implementation of this strategy. This is Volume 3, containing sections on Human Language Processing, Operator Motion Control, Effects of Environmental Stressors, Display Interfaces, and Control Interfaces (Real/Virtual).

Boff, Kenneth R.↗

A Validated Set of MIDAS V5 Task Network Model Scenarios to Evaluate Nextgen Closely Spaced Parallel Operations Concepts

The Closely Spaced Parallel Operations (CSPO) scenario is a complex, human performance model scenario that tested alternate operator roles and responsibilities to a series of off-nominal operations on approach and landing (see Gore, Hooey, Mahlstedt, Foyle, 2013). The model links together the procedures, equipment, crewstation, and external environment to produce predictions of operator performance in response to Next Generation system designs, like those expected in the National Airspaces NextGen concepts. The task analysis that is contained in the present report comes from the task analysis window in the MIDAS software. These tasks link definitions and states for equipment components, environmental features as well as operational contexts. The current task analysis culminated in 3300 tasks that included over 1000 Subject Matter Expert (SME)-vetted, re-usable procedural sets for three critical phases of flight; the Descent, Approach, and Land procedural sets (see Gore et al., 2011 for a description of the development of the tasks included in the model; Gore, Hooey, Mahlstedt, Foyle, 2013 for a description of the model, and its results; Hooey, Gore, Mahlstedt, Foyle, 2013 for a description of the guidelines that were generated from the models results; Gore, Hooey, Foyle, 2012 for a description of the models implementation and its settings). The rollout, after landing checks, taxi to gate and arrive at gate illustrated in Figure 1 were not used in the approach and divert scenarios exercised. The other networks in Figure 1 set up appropriate context settings for the flight deck.The current report presents the models task decomposition from the tophighest level and decomposes it to finer-grained levels. The first task that is completed by the model is to set all of the initial settings for the scenario runs included in the model (network 75 in Figure 1). This initialization process also resets the CAD graphic files contained with MIDAS, as well as the embedded operator models that comprise MIDAS. Following the initial settings, the model progresses to begin the first tasks required of the two flight deck operators, the Captain (CA) and the First Officer (FO). The task sets will initialize operator specific settings prior to loading all of the alerts, probes, and other events that occur in the scenario. As a note, the CA and FO were terms used in developing this model but the CA can also be thought of as the Pilot Flying (PF), while the FO can be considered the Pilot-Not-Flying (PNF)or Pilot Monitoring (PM). As such, the document refers to the operators as PFCA and PNFFO respectively.

task network model↗

Multifactor Interactions and the Air Traffic Controller: The Interaction of Situation Awareness and Workload in Association with Automation

Air traffic controllers (ATCOs) must maintain a consistently high level of human performance in order to maintain flight safety and efficiency. In current control environments, performance-influencing factors such as workload, fatigue and situation awareness (SA) can co-occur, and interact, to affect performance. However, multifactor influences and the association with performance are under-researched. This study utilized a high fidelity human in the loop enroute air traffic control simulation to investigate the relationship between workload, situation awareness and ATCO performance. The study aimed to replicate and extend Edwards, Sharples, Wilson and Kirwan's (2012) previous study and confirm multifactor interactions with a participant sample of ex-controllers. The study also aimed to extend Edwards et al.'s previous research by comparing multifactor relationships across 4 automation conditions. Results suggest that workload and SA may interact to produce a cumulative impact on controller performance, although the effect of the interaction on performance may be dependent on the context and amount of automation present. Findings have implications for human-automation teaming in air traffic control, and the potential prediction and support of ATCO performance.

Workload↗

Future Challenges in Managing Human Health and Performance Risks for Space Flight

The global economy forces many nations to consider their national investments and make difficult decisions regarding their investment in future exploration. To enable safe, reliable, and productive human space exploration, we must pool global resources to understand and mitigate human health & performance risks prior to embarking on human exploration of deep space destinations. Consensus on the largest risks to humans during exploration is required to develop an integrated approach to mitigating risks. International collaboration in human space flight research will focus research on characterizing the effects of spaceflight on humans and the development of countermeasures or systems. Sharing existing data internationally will facilitate high quality research and sufficient power to make sound recommendations. Efficient utilization of ISS and unique ground-based analog facilities allows greater progress. Finally, a means to share results of human research in time to influence decisions for follow-on research, system design, new countermeasures and medical practices should be developed. Although formidable barriers to overcome, International working groups are working to define the risks, establish international research opportunities, share data among partners, share flight hardware and unique analog facilities, and establish forums for timely exchange of results. Representatives from the ISS partnership research and medical communities developed a list of the top ten human health & performance risks and their impact on exploration missions. They also drafted a multilateral data sharing plan to establish guidelines and principles for sharing human spaceflight data. Other working groups are also developing methods to promote international research solicitations. Collaborative use of analog facilities and shared development of space flight research and medical hardware continues. Establishing a forum for exchange of results between researchers, aerospace physicians and program managers takes careful consideration of researcher concerns and decision maker needs. Active participation by researchers in the development of this forum is essential, and the benefit can be tremendous. The ability to rapidly respond to research results without compromising publication rights and intellectual property will facilitate timely reduction in human health and performance risks in support of international exploration missions.

Corbin, Barbara J.↗

Engineering Data Compendium. Human Perception and Performance, Volume 1

The concept underlying the Engineering Data Compendium was the product an R and D program (Integrated Perceptual Information for Designers project) aimed at facilitating the application of basic research findings in human performance to the design of military crew systems. The principal objective was to develop a workable strategy for: (1) identifying and distilling information of potential value to system design from existing research literature, and (2) presenting this technical information in a way that would aid its accessibility, interpretability, and applicability by system designers. The present four volumes of the Engineering Data Compendium represent the first implementation of this strategy. This is Volume 1, which contains sections on Visual Acquisition of Information, Auditory Acquisition of Information, and Acquisition of Information by Other Senses.

Boff, Kenneth R.↗

Users manual for the Automated Performance Test System (APTS)

The characteristics of and the user information for the Essex Automated Performance Test System (APTS) computer-based portable performance assessment battery are given. The battery was developed to provide a menu of performance test tapping the widest possible variety of human cognitive and motor functions, implemented on a portable computer system suitable for use in both laboratory and field settings for studying the effects of toxic agents and other stressors. The manual gives guidance in selecting, administering and scoring tests from the battery, and reviews the data and studies underlying the development of the battery. Its main emphasis is on the users of the battery - the scientists, researchers and technicians who wish to examine changes in human performance across time or as a function of changes in the conditions under which test data are obtained. First the how to information needed to make decisions about where and how to use the battery is given, followed by the research background supporting the battery development. Further, the development history of the battery focuses largely on the logical framework within which tests were evaluated.

Lane, N. E.↗

Biocybernetic Closed-Loop System for Mitigating Hazardous States of Awareness

The past century of passenger flight has seen continuous improvement in aviation safety by the aerospace industry. However, while commercial aviation accident rates have continued to decline, human error-related incident and accident rates remain remarkably constant across all types of aviation (Shappell, et al., 2007). Unfortunately, this level of human error is unacceptable when considering projections for increased traffic volume (FAA, 2009), and is likely to yield more incidents and accidents unless a more complete understanding of operator error is achieved and remediations are implemented. One area of interest highlighted by researchers is Hazardous States of Awareness (HSAs) that can result from deficiencies in the design and inappropriate use of human-machine interfaces. Identifying and mitigating HSAs is critical for reducing operator errors. One promising approach uses psychophysiological measures which enable automated systems to adapt to the operator?s state and modify modes of operation to support optimal human performance (Scerbo, 2007). This paper will survey previous research and describe future directions for the application of psychophysiological measures of operators derived from cortical and autonomic assessment to perform real-time adaptive modulation of human-automation task mode mixes. The authors will present a summary of previous work done at NASA LaRC and Old Dominion University using a Psychophysiologically Adaptive System (PAS) in which the level of automation of the NASA Multi-Attribute Task Battery was modulated based on Engagement Indices derived from the users? electroencephalogram (Pope, Bogart, & Bartolome, 1995; for review see, Scerbo, Freeman, & Mikulka, 2003). Future theoretical and methodological directions for this type of closed-loop research will be discussed. Specifically, the capacity for this type of PAS to maintain effective operator state and to enable validation of candidate physiological indices will be described. Consideration will also be given to critical system characteristics (e.g., engagement indices, methods for invoking changes among system states, individual differences among users, etc.) that have been or still need to be studied. The potential of the PAS approach for interactive system design and prototyping will also be described. Examples of adaptive automation flight deck concepts in recent experiments will be highlighted and discussed.

Chad L Stephens↗

Managing Maintenance Error: Six Lessons From Aviation Maintenance

There are clear parallels between the ground processing of spacecraft and the maintenance of airline aircraft. In both cases, reliable human performance is critical to safe outcomes. Examples of human factors in airline maintenance and spacecraft ground processing illustrate the similarities between these two domains. The worldwide aviation industry began to pay close attention to human factors in maintenance after several maintenance-related disasters in the 1970s and 80s. Rather than simply applying solutions that had been developed for flight crew and air traffic controllers, the aviation industry developed human factors interventions specifically tailored for maintenance personnel. These interventions have led to safety improvements, greater reliability, and significant cost savings. Six human factors approaches from airline maintenance that can be usefully applied to enhance the quality and safety of ground processing are outlined. These are 1) Design for assembly, test, and maintenance, 2) Non technical skills training, 3) Improved design of documentation, 4) Reduction of iatrogenic quality lapses, 5) Barrier and control analysis, and 6) Continuous improvement based on learning from quality lapses.

maintenance human factors↗

Engineering Data Compendium. Human Perception and Performance, Volume 2

The concept underlying the Engineering Data Compendium was the product of a Research and Development program (Integrated Perceptual Information for Designers project) aimed at facilitating the application of basic research findings in human performance to the design of military crew systems. The principal objective was to develop a workable strategy for: (1) identifying and distilling information of potential value to system design from existing research literature, and (2) presenting this technical information in a way that would aid its accessibility, interpretability, and applicability by system designers. The present volumes of the Engineering Data Compendium represent the first implementation of this strategy. This is Volume 2, which contains sections on Information Storage and Retrieval, Spatial Awareness, Perceptual Organization, and Attention and Allocation of Resources.

Boff, Kenneth R.↗