Upon arrival to the Crew Compartment Trainer, the subject will receive a description of the Spinal in-orbit activity and the objectives of the data collection. The subject enters and positions himself/herself into the commander seat on the flight deck. The investigator team member records the Anthropometer value. An orthogonal photograph is taken. The subject exits the seat, and then re-enters for the second set of data points. Two rotations into the seat constitute a full data collection session. The data collected during the overview session comprises the preflight baseline data.

Inflight Data Collection

The operator unstows the Anthropometer assembly from the International Space Station (ISS) stowage and sets it up on the commander seat in the Shuttle flight deck. Next, the operator sets up the camera and mounts it in the position that allows an orthogonal photograph of a subject in this seat. The operator takes a test photograph and downlinks to the ground for the investigator team to verify correct placement before the first subject’s data collection. Upon the first subject’s arrival to the Shuttle Flight deck, the subject enters and positions himself/herself into the commander seat. The Spinal operator makes adjustments with the subject to ensure good positioning and records the Anthropometer value. An orthogonal photograph is taken. The subject exits the seat, and then re-enters for the second set of data points. Two rotations into the seat constitute a full session. The operator repeats the data collection with each subsequent subject participating in the study. If the operator is also a subject, the backup operator will switch positions with the prime operator to collect the data on the prime operator. After the data collection is complete, the hardware could remain deployed, if allowed, to encourage extra data collections. Prior to undocking, the Anthropometer hardware must be detached from the seat on the Shuttle flight deck and stowed back in ISS stowage.

RESULTS:
This seated height data in microgravity is considered necessary to correctly identify the seated height projections of the crew in the Orion CEV configuration. Correct projections of seated height should lead to a) proper positioning of the seats within the vehicle; b) maintaining adequate clearance for seat stroke in high acceleration impacts; c) providing proper fit in seats; d) proper placement of seats with respect to each other and the vehicle; and e) proper orientation to displays and controls. Additionally, data concerning the effects of spinal elongation on seated height would aid in the design of suit components, habitation requirements, and tool specifications.