Human Response Characteristics to Impact Conditions During Spacecraft Takeoff and Impact Landing

Human exposure to local accelerations during strategic spaceflight operations is required for assessing the potential health risks and performance. The objective of this study is to know the relation of human responses to the peak g and duration as well as orientations. This paper discusses an approach for human body modeling and simulation. Multibody dynamics approach is used to model the human body using LifeMOD®. The developed biomechanical models are analyzed for different acceleration pulses (4g, 6g and 10g) and seat orientations (20°, 30°, and 40°). A 4-DOF lumped parameter model is studied to compare with multibody model. Interrogation of results indicates the physical significance of the study. From the results obtained, we determine the responses of human body segments to various impact levels and seat orientations. The results obtained using multibody model is in good agreement with the results obtained using lumped parameter model.