Operator's Reliability During Spacecraft Docking Training on Board Mir and ISS.

Area of Science:

• Space Operations
• Human Factors in Aviation and Spaceflight
• Psychophysiology

Background:

• The PILOT experiment assessed cosmonaut reliability during manual spacecraft docking.
• This research focused on Soyuz and Progress spacecraft docking with Mir and the International Space Station (ISS).

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate cosmonaut reliability in mission-critical operations.
• To assess psychophysiological costs and performance during simulated space docking.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a simulation of spacecraft docking for training and research.
• Collected data on performance levels and individual effort over three decades.
• Involved 32 cosmonauts in the study.

Main Results:

• Cosmonaut reliability significantly increased from Mir (0.45) to ISS missions (0.51).
• Reliability remained stable during ISS missions (0.50 ± 0.1).

Conclusions:

• Salnitskis model for operator reliability evaluation was successfully adapted and validated.
• The model is sensitive and robust for practical application in critical operational tasks like space docking.