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Throughout the manned-space programs of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), significant data has been gathered regarding how humans live and work in the environment encountered in space. Recording operational experience helps avoid duplication of errors, can improve the design of equipment and procedures, and can provide valuable insight into human-machine and human-environment interfaces. Several sources contain valuable information about living and working in space, but are in an uncoordinated paper format. A relational database, called the Operational Experience Database, has been constructed to electronically store and organize human factors information from the Skylab and Space Shuttle missions. The taxonomy used to organize this database builds on the one used for the Skylab human-machine experiments. This information can be used by NASA engineers and operations personnel to remedy design problems, or expand on design successes.

Space Shuttle missions STS-40 and STS-47, with their respective payloads of Spacelab Life Sciences-1 (SLS-1) and Spacelab Japan 1 (SL-J), used NASA's Spacelab module to provide an additional shirt-sleeve environment for the accomplishment of scientific activities. The Spacelab Transfer Tunnel connected Spacelab to the Orbiter Middeck. It represented the only way to translate between the two volumes and so provided the opportunity to examine microgravity travel between two specified points. Analyses utilized video of astronaut movement through the tunnel during regularly scheduled mission operations. Descriptions of translation techniques were generated, and translation times were recorded. The crew provided insights into tunnel translation and design through questionnaires and interviews. The design of the tunnel was satisfactory.