From: seale@possum.den.mmc.com (Eric H Seale)
Subject: Re: Surviving Large Accelerations?
Organization: Martin Marietta Astronautics, Denver
Lines: 24
Nntp-Posting-Host: pogo.den.mmc.com

>Amruth Laxman <al26+@andrew.cmu.edu> writes:
>> ... humans (and this was published
>> in 1986) have already withstood accelerations of 45g. All this is very
>> long-winded but here's my question finally - Are 45g accelerations in
>> fact humanly tolerable? - with the aid of any mechanical devices of
>> course.

lpham@eis.calstate.edu (Lan Pham) writes:
>are you sure 45g is the right number? as far as i know, pilots are
>blackout in dives that exceed 8g - 9g. 45g seems to be out of human
>tolerance. would anybody clarify this please.

Actually, both numbers are correct.  The difference is in the direction
of the acceleration.  For pilots, accelerations tend to be transverse to
the direction you're facing (pulling out from a steep dive, the
acceleration will force blood toward your feet, for instance).  In this
case, you can only put up with about 8 g's even with a pressure suit.  

The record for acceleration, though, is measured along "the direction
you're facing" (for lack of a better term).  As I recall, this record
was set in rocket sleds back in the 60's -- and was about 40 g's or so.

Eric Seale
seale@pogo.den.mmc.com
