ENGINEERING PLANETARY EXPLORATION SYSTEMS: INTEGRATING NOVEL TECHNOLOGIES AND THE HUMAN ELEMENT USING WORK DOMAIN ANALYSIS

摘要

The realisation of sustainable space exploration and utilisation requires not only the development of novel concepts and technologies, but also their successful integration. Hardware, software, and the human element must be integrated effectively to make the dream for which these technologies were created a reality. Work Domain Analysis (WDA), the first phase of Cognitive Work Analysis, is becoming widely used for the holistic analysis and design of complex sociotechnical systems. However, the majority of these applications are for extant systems, or systems with a similar extant predecessor. This paper presents a brief introduction to WDA and a discussion of its application to the Mission Execution Crew Assistant (MECA). This application was performed to determine whether WDA is useful as a design tool for technologies without extant predecessors or operational experience, such as MECA, and also to evaluate a methodological approach to WDA developed in Australia. While improvements are suggested for the methodological approach, it was found to be an excellent source of guidance in the application of WDA. Outcomes of the application of WDA to the MECA system were found to be constructive for the MECA project team, indicating that WDA holds promise for application to first-of-a-kind systems in the space industry.