Viewing Evaluation of two Cupola Locations on Space Station Freedom (SSF)

Analyses are continuing in the Man-Systems Division of NASA Johnson Space Center, on the restructured Space Station Freedom (SSF). Viewing requirements for the SSF indicate that assembly and extravehicular crew operations should be viewed by direct means whenever possible. To analyze the extent to which the Cupola meets this requirement, positions on the port side of Node 2 and the zenith side of Node 1 were evaluated. These analyses utilized the tasks from Mission Build (MB) 6 through 16 to investigate these two Node positions. The analyses conducted were based on a 4-position rating scale (Excellent, Good, Marginal, and Inadequate) which solicited data from both expert crewmembers and specialists in the field of robotic assembly operations. To remedy the potential direct viewing problems identified through this investigation, it was recommended that additional camera ports be placed along the truss and on the modules to provide indirect orthogonal viewing for berthing operations and pressurized module attachment. It was also recommended that additional Node positions be investigated to determine the optimal location for the Cupola based on crew considerations, direct viewing requirements, lighting issues, and operational tasking issues.