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To sustain the extra-vehicular activity (EVA) rate required to assemble and maintain the International Space Station (ISS), we must enhance our ability to plan, train for, and execute EVAs. An underlying analysis capability must be in place to ensure EVA access to all external worksites either as a starting point for ground training, to generate information needed for on-orbit training, or to react quickly to develop contingency EVA plans, techniques, and procedures. This paper describes a potential flight experiment for application of custom human modeling analysis to plan and train for EVAs to enhance space station functionality and usability through assembly and operation.

The size and complexity of Space Station has driven the need for an accurate, reliable analytical tool to assess the extravehicular activity (EVA) crew interfaces at the worksite. On previous spacecraft, each worksite was developed and validated through Neutral Buoyancy underwater testing by the crew using mockups. For spacecraft requiring a significant amount of EVA over large areas, like Space Station, the cost of conducting underwater tests for each of the many hundred worksites becomes prohibitive. Therefore, limited testing must be augmented by accurate graphical analysis. The Unigraphics II, which is the Computer Aided Design (CAD) system for the International Space Station Alpha (ISSA) Product Group 1 design, was selected and developed. It has a major advantage of easy and rapid access to the accurate and updated Space Station design. The design can be rapidly obtained electronically from layouts, detail drawings, assembly drawings or the Electronic Development Fixture (EDF).