Design Restraints in Space Laboratories

Restraints constitute the unique and necessary aids for living and working in microgravity conditions in which crewmembers need facilities as support to move around and as restraints while they work. In environments with microgravity, disturbance to the vestibular sense, when it occurs together with conflicting visual and perceptive stimuli, can cause disorientation, vertigo and illusions regarding posture and movement. Therefore, the design of restraints is a critical ingredient of success for crewmembers performance in space during both IVA and EVA activities. Standard restraints and mobility aids are provided on ISS such that all installation, operation, and maintenance can be performed: Foot Restraint, Adjustable Length Tether, Handrails, Adjustable Length Tether and Torso Restraint Assembly. Crewmembers use Standard Foot Restraints and Handrails to improve the movement capacities and the postural stability. They use their feet to hold on Foot Restraint but they also very often grab the Handrails with their feet and, when they do, so their feet hurt. Therefore it is a challenging and complex area of architectural design research. This paper presents a review of the development and evolution of the space laboratories restraints showing and analysing in depth how the design issues have been planned and solved inside the methodology applied to evaluate the design solutions for International Space Station. The space laboratories restraints will be to consider different parameters, keeping in mind the user priorities and effects in space environments. The purpose of this paper is to develop through a critical design review, a plan integration strategy that defines shapes and typologies for space laboratories restraints and suggests new concept designs to enhance or substitute the present ones.