Workstations for the on-orbit crew in Space Station Freedom

Abstract

Space Station Frccdom operations will he controlled predomiiiantly from on-orbit workstations. These workstiitions represent the central i i e i n r centel. of the station and play :I significant role i n the current development of the Space Statioii Freedom prognim. Correspondingl)., flight crew integration (human enfineering) requirements are important hecaose the creu' will perfomi lifeand missioncritical functions at these Incatioiis over the a 30-year lifc span. McDonncll Douglas Space Systcms Cornpan), has the responsibility for developing these workstations and its flight crew intefration (FCI) dep;irtment has the cliiirter ti) define workstation crew requirements. These FCI analyses include definition nf crew operations and functions. identification of display and contrnls (including numh and Iocaiions), workstation configuration I s y ~ i t . and lighting. Requirements analysis. computer-aided design drawings. and mockup evaluations using NASA Sohnson Space Center astronauts have been used i n selcctinf i,ptimuiii workstation dexigns. L' Results have shown the need for several different types of workstations: commend and contrnl workstations which serve a5 the primary f o r Space Station Freedom subsystems control: cupola workstations which are hoilscd in a glass-enclosed volume to provide out-the-window views of telerobot and extravehicular activities: 1abor;itory element control workstations for science opesations: and crew health care workstations for preventive and diagnostic medical care. Introduction The comm;ind nnd control workstations (CCWS) are designated as the primary u,oi-kst;itions for Space Station Freedom (SSF) comniandlcontrol operations. One of these workstations has been designated :is the primary CCWS and the other the secondary. The bulk of all SSF iionpayloiid as u'ell iis some payload operations will be conducted from these locations and s o they play a sisnificant role in SSF operations. Additionally. twn cupola workstations. housed in glass-enclosed cupolas. are the main command centers for control of external operations which require out-the-window viewing h> the crew (Figure I I . ~ A C R V 2 Hab B (Hidden) I Node4 Cupola 1 Fig. 1. Space Station Freedom Configuration The FCI requirements for both of these workstations are commensurately important because the crew will hc performing lifeand iiiissioii-critical functions at these location where they are expected to spend coiisiderahle periods of time at work .