Influence of monitoring method and control complexity on operator performance in manually controlled spacecraft rendezvous and docking

This study focuses on the influence of the monitoring method and control complexity on the operator performance in manually controlled spacecraft rendezvous and docking (RVD). Two one-factor experiments were designed on a simulated RVD system. One examined the video guidance and periscope monitoring methods, and the other examined three control complexity levels using one-axis RVD control, twoaxis RVD control, and three-axis RVD control. Eighteen male volunteers aged 22–35 participated in the experiments. The results show that the RVD operating time increases with control complexity. Based on the operators' findings, the two-axis control is the easiest. The monitoring method has no significant influence on failure rate with the low complexity using one-axis RVD control.