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IE students address Space Station challenges
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Clemson IE students,
Jason Winburn (from left), Connie
Blackwell, Martha McCracken,
Jason Edwards, and Janeen
Myers video conference with
NASA astronauts and
engineers for design review. |
A group of industrial engineering students here at Clemson
are applying what they know to work situations in the International
Space Station (ISS). A senior elective course in industrial
ergonomics is providing an opportunity to address the challenges
of working in a weightless environment.
The general term for the devices that keep astronauts near
their work is “crew restraints.” Some of these
have been in use for several years, on Skylab, Soyuz, Shuttle
missions, and the International Space Station. In hopes of
finding new and better ways to keep the crew comfortable
and productive while working, the engineers in the Habitability
and Human Factors Office of NASA Johnson Space Center are
working with students studying design, architecture, and
industrial engineering at several universities.
Combining
feedback from ISS and Shuttle crew members with their own
ingenuity, the students are working through a design
process similar to that used for any NASA development project.
They formulate their ideas, participate in chat sessions
involving all the university teams, and have their designs
reviewed
by NASA engineers, scientists and astronauts.
Del Kimbler, professor and course instructor, was a tracking
station technician during the Apollo and Skylab missions. “This
student project not only exposes the students to real engineering
problems and design processes,” he observed. “But
it could result in a better crew restraint that might eventually
become part of future NASA missions.” Clemson IE students,
Jason Winburn (from left), Connie Blackwell, Martha McCracken,
Jason Edwards, and Janeen Myers videoconference with NASA
astronauts and engineers for design review.
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