Description of Driving Event:
Crew Involvement in Integration Testing
Lesson(s) Learned:
Astronaut crew participation in testing improves fidelity of the test and better familiarizes the crew with systems and procedures.
Recommendation(s):
NASA should continue to involve the crew in integration testing and do so more heavily and at an earlier stage.
Evidence of Recurrence Control Effectiveness:
NASA concurs with the recommendation. The Flight Crew Operations Directorate (FCOD) at JSC is making every effort to ensure that astronauts are actively involved in hardware and software testing of Space Station components at all phases of their development. FCOD heartily concurs that this involvement needs to continue at an early stage and with a high level of participation. This involvement is accomplished through the technical assignments that are filled by astronauts who are not assigned to a specific mission and by the assigned flight crews responsible for the assembly of the hardware on orbit. Traditionally, flight crews are assigned about 1 year ahead of time for a shuttle mission. In the case of Space Station assembly missions, an attempt has been made to assign crews at least a year and a half ahead of time so that they are actively involved in the development of the on orbit procedures and the test and checkout of the hardware. Early involvement ensures that crews are able to make engineering inputs based on operational experience to correct problems before they result in time consuming and difficult on orbit workarounds. All test activities are tracked by the Vehicle Integration Test Team (VITT) within FCOD. To accomplish this, personnel are assigned the responsibility to monitor the hardware at the various sites where it is being built, including overseas sites, as well as at the Kennedy Space Center. These personnel provide the astronauts with the current status of the hardware, coordinate crew visits to the sites and ensure that astronauts are participants in all critical tests. Additionally, the increment crews that will actually be living on the station after it is constructed have been made active participants in the test and checkout of the hardware while it is still on the ground. FCOD will continue to ensure that this crew involvement continues and is not just limited to Space Station assembly missions but also encompasses Orbiter upgrades, the Crew Return Vehicle, payloads, and any future program that requires astronaut participation.
Documents Related to Lesson:
N/A
Mission Directorate(s):
- Space Operations
- Exploration Systems
Additional Key Phrase(s):
- Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel
- Computers
- Human Factors
- Risk Management/Assessment
- Software
- Test & Verification
Additional Info:
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