The weak pull of artificial gravity, The Space Review “Gerstenmaier, while skeptical of the need for and ability to accommodate artificial gravity, didn’t rule it out entirely. He noted that there’s very little information on the effectiveness of partial gravity, including the minimum levels needed to offset the deleterious effects of microgravity. Some of that research is being done with a small rodent centrifuge on the station’s Kibo module. “We’ll […]
NASTAR Center Completes First FAA Safety Approval Audit – Space Training Simulator Centrifuge “Representatives from FAA AST, Washington, DC, conducted the audit. The audit consisted of a review of conformance to the terms of the Safety Approval as well as a review of the STS-400, including operating and safety procedures, operation and maintenance manuals, and inspection and maintenance documentation. Additionally, the use of the STS-400 in the NASTAR Center space […]
Last week I had a rather remarkable experience: I flew into space in Pennsylvania. Well, almost.
(more…)Johnsville Centrifuge Gondola Returns Home To New Museum i>”May 5, 2011 was a historic day for Bucks County as the original gondola of the Johnsville Centrifuge that was used for training America’s early space heroes returned to Warminster. It had spent the last 47 years at the Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration and Storage Facility of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum in Suitland, Maryland. All of America’s […]
Video: Cockpit screen view: NASTAR SpaceShip Two Centrifuge Simulation of 100% Acceleration Profile This video is from a 11 May 2011 centrifuge run at the NASTAR center with SwRI scientist Cathy Olkin in the cockpit. The view simulates what one would see on a suborbital flight profile aboard Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShip Two. These centrifuge rides are an integral feature of the NASTAR Center’s suborbital scientist astronaut training program. Video: External […]
NASTAR Suborbital Scientist Astronaut Training: Full Acceleration Flight Profile Centrifuge Runs (archived video) Keith’s note: My three centrifuge runs – Virgin Galactic SpaceShip Two flight profiles – one at 50% acceleration and two at 100% acceleration – starts at 51:50 in the archived webcast. As you can see, we all had a great time. Let me tell you, the experience of pulling 6Gs is utterly exhilarating. With the proper training […]
Space science: Along for the ride, Nature “Three days after Discovery ‘s launch … two planetary scientists are talking with a group of fellow researchers about what should come next. Sipping his drink, Daniel Durda laments that after half a century, only about 500 people have flown in space. Access to humanity’s final frontier is still restricted to people employed by a handful of powerful governments and corporations, plus the […]
Keith’s note: Alan Stern, Dan Durda [two videos] and ten other scientist took two rides in a centrifuge located at The NASTAR Center as part of a suborbital scientist training program held on 12 & 13 January 2010. On these runs the scientists were put through simulated rides aboard Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo. The first flight was at 50% acceleration. The second flight was at 100% acceleration. You will note by […]
