"Up" in space

[scooter]

I've been keeping NASA TV on as "background music" while on the computer and have noticed something interesting.
I get the impression that the ISS modules are designed with an "up" and "down" orientation. The controls, the layout of the laptops...it seems to give the occupants a familiar feeling despite the microgravity.
Suni seems really comfortable up there, just bopping around with her chores, getting things ready for the upcoming visitors, and her long awaited trip home.
Just saw the ISS go over, another pass in about 1.5 hrs. Should be noticably brighter when they get that next big solar array installed.
So, would it make sense that they build the modules with an "up/down" , Earth based orientation, or did it just "evolve"? Makes perfect sense now that I look at it.
They're so close, but so far away...

[gillianren]

My understanding is that humans react better if there's an up/down. Logically, in freefall, there's no reason to have one, but humans wig out less.

[AstroSmurf]

It's also helpful if you don't have to rotate so much when moving from one panel to the next, and that most if not all panels can be read right-side-up at a casual glance. Simple ergonomics would dictate that you pick one orientation for a module and apply it throughout.

[Jason Thompson]

All the Apollo astronauts who flew in the LM reported a moment of disorientation when they went through the connecting tunnel from the command module to the lunar module. Imagine suffering that every time you moved to a different workstation. From a psychological view I'd guess it is better to have a straightforward arrangement of up and down.

Of course, that also makes it easier to build simulators....

[gwiz]

NASA basically sorted this out with Skylab, back in 1973-4. The main workshop was designed with an "up", while the MDA module, which carried the control stations for much of the scientific equipment, had a mix of orientations.

The crews reported they were happier with a unique "up", so the subsequent Spacelab and ISS modules have been designed that way.

[Jason]

Reminds me of The Mote in God's Eye. The Moties of the asteroid civilization, having long adopted to micro- and zero-gravity environments, no longer preferred having a single up-and-down orientation.

[gillianren]

The Quaddies in Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan saga re the same way, but they're genetically engineered to it.