PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR ( S ) : Joseph F. Kubis, Edward J. McLaughlin, Janice M. 



Jackson, Rudolph Rusnak, Gary H. McBride, and 

 Susan V. Saxon 



EXPERIMENT TITLE/NUMBER : Task and Work Performance on Skylab Missions 2, 3, 



and 4, M151 



PROGRAM/MISSION : Skylab 2, 3, 1 



CLASSIFICATION : Human 



DISCIPLINE(S) : Neurosensory, Behavioral science 



OBJECTIVES : To observe astronauts in motion, compare their mobility and 

 dexterity in various activities under weightlessness with similar activities 

 under Earth conditions, and to evaluate their zero-gravity behavior for 

 designs and work programs of future spacecraft. 



PROTOCOL : The following tasks were selected for observation: locomotion of 

 crewmen as they moved in zero-g environment with and without loads, fine and 

 gross motor activities of crewmen in performing operations with and without 

 the use of restraints, tasks which required visual, tactile, or auditory 

 feedback, or combinations of feedbacks, intravehicular and extravehicular 

 activities, and repeated activities performed early, midway, and late in the 

 missions showing adaptation to the zero-g environment. Films were made with 

 verbal information by the astronauts. 



EQUIPMENT : 16mm movie camera, portable high intensity photographic lamp, tape 

 recorder. 



RESULTS : There was uniformity of crew performance over the missions. Initial 

 change from preflight to inflight environment was accompanied by an increase 

 in performance time for the majority of work task activities studies. By the 

 end of the second inflight trial, more than half of the activities were 

 performed as efficiently as on the last preflight trial. Performance 

 proficiency increased during each Skylab mission with crewmen adjusting 

 rapidly to the weightless environment and becoming proficient in developing 

 techniques to optimize task performance . 



CONCLUSIONS : There was no evidence of performance deterioration that could be 

 attributed to the effects of long duration exposure to the Skylab environment . 

 Performance adaptation was very rapid. By the end of the second performance 

 trial, about 50% of all task elements were completed within the time observed 

 for the last preflight trial. 



PUBLICATIONS : 320, 321, 322 



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