Small Business/SBIR

Shuttle Training Goes International

A TRAINING SYSTEM THAT RECERTIFIES Space Shuttle shop floor technicians at Kennedy Space Center is being used in an international training program for installing a seismic array network that monitors the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. ENSCO, INC., of Springfield, Virginia, developed the Automated Recertification Training System (ARTS) under a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project. The system reduces training time by 50 percent and improves test scores up to 20 percent for Kennedy's space flight operations contractor.

ARTS is an advanced computer-based training (CBT) system capability that uses multimedia technology and interactive courseware to increase the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of technical training applications. ENSCO Project Engineer Gaylen Drape said the ARTS program experience led to the creation of a training program for AlliedSignal Corporation, which is engaged in the installation of a seismic array network. Drape said the use of interactive multimedia technology will reduce training time and make seismic array systems easier to use and maintain. ENSCO's primary markets have been the development of CBT for military agencies and the aerospace industry, as well as the embedding of CBT applications within high-end scientific software systems.

NASA wanted the ARTS program to optimize critical and essential recertification training of shop floor technicians, according to NASA Engineer Tim Barth. Barth said that ENSCO provided Kennedy Space Center with five pilot courses, transferring existing Kennedy classroom-based materials to CBT and developing software tools and templates to facilitate production and maintenance of CBT applications by personnel with limited programming experience.

Barth added that the Kennedy space flight operations contractor, United Space Alliance, integrated ARTS concepts and methodologies in an operational Just-in-Time (JIT) computer-based training program, which is now extensively used by technicians and quality inspectors. The JIT program has contributed to improved processing efficiencies and job performance in Space Shuttle operations.

The ARTS program showed a reduction of training time of up to 50 percent using interactive courseware over classroom-based methods, with a 10- to 20-percent improvement in pre- and posttest scores. The use of production tools and templates reduced CBT development time from 30 to 60 percent, depending on the course's complexity. Further research showed that multimedia training courseware enhances learning and improves on-the-job performance. The use of an integrated development environment also streamlines the courseware production process, making courseware easier to develop and maintain.

For more information, contact Lewis Parrish at Kennedy Space Center.
Call: 407/867-6373, E-mail: ParriLM@kscgws00.ksc.nasa.gov
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Experience from creating computer-based training to recertify Space Shuttle shop technicians is being applied to training in a monitoring component of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Technicians process a new Block 2A engine for the STS-88 mission aboard Endeavour, which flew December 1998.