SKILL MAINTENANCE IN EXTENDED SPACEFLIGHT - A HUMAN-FACTORS ANALYSIS OF SPACE AND ANALOG WORK ENVIRONMENTS

This paper discusses the implications of increasing mission lengths of manned spaceflight for the design of future space systems from a huma n factors point of view. It is argued that the increase in mission dur ation has brought about a number of new problems, which have not been sufficiently addressed in space research. Therefore, a review of analo gue work environments is carried out to make up for the paucity of spa ce research found in the area of human performance in long-duration sp aceflight. This resulted in an evaluation of seven analogue environmen ts concerning their similarity to space with industrial process contro l and nuclear submarines coming out as the closest match on the techni cal dimension. Finally, some recommendations are given from the lesson s learnt in spaceflight, simulation studies and appropriate analogue e nvironments. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.