NASA-LLIS-2136

Abstract

<strong>Abstract:</strong> <br>The early work of the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD) focused on human factors engineering (i.e., applying what is known about human capabilities and limitations to the design of products, processes, systems, and work environments) as it related to human spaceflight, particularly crew health and performance. During the transition from the Orbital Space Plane Project (OSP) Program to the Constellation Program, the requirements for applying human factors engineering to the design of tasks related to the ground processing of space vehicles were not well-defined. Since that time, these 1-G (Earth gravity) human factors requirements have been defined at different levels of maturity depending upon whether they relate to flight hardware/software, ground support systems (GSS), or ground support equipment (GSE). Effectively, all of these areas are leveraging human factors engineering to optimize ground processing of flight hardware. <br>This document includes lessons learned for incorporating human factors design considerations in the following areas: within the outer mold line of the flight hardware, at the ground systems-to-flight systems interface, and in the design of GSS and GSE leading up to the flight systems interface. The major focus is on current requirements and processes for applying human factors considerations in the design of GSS and GSE, taking into account that this involves a large program that does not list human factors engineering as a separate item in the work breakdown structure (WBS). The attached paper illustrates the importance of human factors engineering in the design of ground processing and launch operations for launch vehicles.