Human-Centered Design of a Workstation for the Lunar Agriculture Module

Kurzfassung

The Artemis Program is returning humans to the Moon in the aim of establishing a sustainable presence. To address resource scarcity, Bioregenerative Life Support Systems (BLSS) can be considered. Agricultural modules are a component supporting these systems and can provide in-situ edible biomass and breathable atmosphere for astronauts. To this end, the EDEN Research Group at the Institute of Space Systems of the German Aerospace Center (DLR), is developing the Lunar Agriculture Module Ground Test Demonstrator (LAM-GTD). This project will serve as a terrestrial analog in preparation to deploy an agricultural module on the Moon. The LAM-GTD will comprise cultivation and service racks where astronauts will perform diverse activities related to plant cultivation including sowing, pruning, monitoring, harvesting, and cleaning. To support these operations, the project aims to design a human-centered workstation to optimize cultivation tasks in a constrained space, following the guidelines provided by the NASA’s Human Design Integration Handbook (NASA/SP-2010-3407). After reviewing relevant projects, the initial step consisted in performing a User Task Analysis (UTA) by collecting experience from crew members of EDEN ISS missions in Antarctica and developing the Concept of Operations (ConOps). Insight from this study guided an iterative design phase, incorporating continuous crew feedback and trade-off analyses to refine the functional and ergonomic aspects. From this human-in-the-loop approach, the workstation was structured to support four key subsystems: a workbench with an integrated sink, a waste compartment, a nursery and storage. A usability test procedure was developed to verify in future work the compliance with human factors guidelines and generate actionable recommendations for further improvements, ensuring the workstation’s readiness for future demonstration under simulated gravity planned at DLR. This project demonstrates the value of a Human-Centered Design (HCD) and iterative approach in optimizing space workstations, enhancing functionality, operation and crew well-being, and contributing to the readiness of the LAM mission.