Evaluation of an Advanced Fault Management System Display for Next Generation Crewed Space Vehicles

The next generation Crew Exploration Vehicle is planned to employ Integrated Systems Health Management (ISHM) technology to enhance crew safety and improve onboard operations. For example, the ISHM could assist crewmembers with real-time fault management operations by automatically identifying the root cause of complex system malfunctions. However, to implement such a system, several human-factors issues have to be addressed. For instance, human-machine functional allocations have to be made and supporting crew interfaces designed and evaluated. The paper describes a concept for crew-ISHM interactions called the Fault Management Support System (FAMSS) that addresses these human-factors issues. Simulator experiment results showed that a simulated FAMSS interface improved operators' situation awareness and fault-management performance while decreasing fault-management workload.