NASA Technical Reports Server (NASA) · 2011 · 21 citations · 0 references
EngineeringBehavioral SciencesPsychologyEnvironmental PsychologySpacecraft DesignStress PhysiologyEnvironmental StressorsHabitability StandardsHuman-rated Spacecraft DesignMission RequirementsPsychological StressSpace ExplorationAssessment Of Psychosocial StressorsExploration MissionsMulti-disciplinary TeamworkScientific Evidence EvaluationScientific Expert Evidence
The 2011 Habitable Volume Workshop, held in Houston, examined how existing confinement studies and analogs inform minimum habitable volume requirements for long‑duration space missions, noting that future mission volume adequacy is more complex. NASA convened the workshop to better understand how behavioral and psychosocial stressors, habitable volume, and interior layouts influence the adequacy of long‑duration habitat designs. Experts from medical, behavioral, spaceflight, habitability, and design fields reviewed evidence and personal experiences to identify key stressors for long‑duration missions. The experts identified eight major stressor categories—space allocation, workspace, environmental control, sensory deprivation, social monotony, crew composition, physical/medical issues, and contingency readiness—and proposed mitigation strategies and research directions to inform habitat design.
This report documents the results of the Habitable Volume Workshop held April 18-21, 2011 in Houston, TX at the Center for Advanced Space Studies-Universities Space Research Association. The workshop was convened by NASA to examine the factors that feed into understanding minimum habitable volume requirements for long duration space missions. While there have been confinement studies and analogs that have provided the basis for the guidance found in current habitability standards, determining the adequacy of the volume for future long duration exploration missions is a more complicated endeavor. It was determined that an improved understanding of the relationship between behavioral and psychosocial stressors, available habitable and net habitable volume, and interior layouts was needed to judge the adequacy of long duration habitat designs. The workshop brought together a multi-disciplinary group of experts from the medical and behavioral sciences, spaceflight, human habitability disciplines and design professionals. These subject matter experts identified the most salient design-related stressors anticipated for a long duration exploration mission. The selected stressors were based on scientific evidence, as well as personal experiences from spaceflight and analogs. They were organized into eight major categories: allocation of space; workspace; general and individual control of environment; sensory deprivation; social monotony; crew composition; physical and medical issues; and contingency readiness. Mitigation strategies for the identified stressors and their subsequent impact to habitat design were identified. Recommendations for future research to address the stressors and mitigating design impacts are presented.