The Human Factors and Ergonomics Laboratory (I-IFEZ) at the NASA Johnson Space Center is in the process of identifying an automated software interface checking tool to assess the dew to which space-related critical and high risk software system user interfaces meet objective human factors standards across each NASA program and project. A prototype tool has been identifkd, and usability testing is underway. Testing compares analysis time and similarity of results for the automated tool and for human-computer interface experts.The results of the evaluation will be included in the poster.

As a prelude to the assembly of the International Space Station Alpha, the Space Shuttle will dock with the current Russian Mir Space Station several times. In order to align the docking interfaces, the Shuttle commander will use a camera view of a target mounted inside the Mir docking hatch to determine and to correct misalignment. An evaluation took place at NASA's Johnson Space Center to determine if modifications to the target design resolved previous visibility issues and to quantify the effect of orbital shadows on the commander's ability to perceive target cues. Both the commander and pilot of the first two docking missions participated as subjects. Results of this evaluation showed that target visibility issues were resolved. Critical information was also provided to operations engineers regarding how to deal with orbital shadows during rendezvous. These results assisted ground operations controllers in instructing the STS-63 crew on what image data was required to verify expected on-orbit conditions for upcoming Shuttlemir missions.