Planning a Simulator Study

July 4, 1998

Alertness Measures Effectiveness Study 1: Day 18 at 5:30 a.m.

The study that I told you about a couple months ago started on June 4. My co-workers and I have been running pilot crews in the 747-400 flight simulator next door. We're monitoring pilots during a simulated night flight. Our program is attempting to document the effects of flying at night after staying awake all day long. (You can find more information on this in the February 11, 1998 journal, entitled "Planning a Simulator Study".)

About a month before these night-time study runs started, I began attempting to shift my schedule from working in the daytime to working at night. I started work later and later as the weeks went by. The weekend prior to the study, I dramatically adjusted my schedule by going to bed at 5:00 a.m. and waking up around 2:00 p.m. I started getting a headache the first couple of days (uh, nights), but by Monday night I was just about in sync with the new schedule. For each study run, I wake up around 4:30 p.m. and work through the night until the crew leaves around 9:00 a.m. We have a few more weeks to go on this schedule. Ear plugs and an eye mask have worked wonders in minimizing the noises of everyone else's daytime activities.

My main focus is trying to stay healthy with such a crazy schedule. At times, I have found it very hard to sleep all day so I can be alert all night long. Sometimes I wonder if NASA is trying to use me as the test subject!

	Team members during the simulated night flights in the "air traffic control room."
Subjects walking into the 747-400 simulator to begin their flight