Ask A Scientist General Science Archive

name         Shiester M.
status       student
age          17

Question -   What are the highest g-accelerations accidentally
survived and voluntarily survived?
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In 1954, Colonel John Paul Stapp Ph.D., M.D., a US Air Force flight surgeon
and researcher, sustained the highest voluntary g-accelerations of 45 times
gravity.  This work was done to determine the design standards for safety
harnesses and ejector seats being developed at the time to cope with the
newest generation of supersonic jets.  Dr. Stapp achieved this by riding a
rocket sled to 634 miles per hour and accelerating to a halt in 1.4 seconds.
This is the same force as crashing a car into a wall at 60 mph, but with ten
times greater duration.

In 1955, Time Magazine called Stapp "the fastest man on earth and No. 1 hero
of the Air Force".  Stapp should be considered one of the greatest heros of
all time; his work and bravery have saved tens, if not hundreds of thousands
of pilots and motorists over the last 50 years.  Although Stapp died in 1999
at the age of 89, his legacy of safety research work continues through the
Stapp Foundation.

Sorry, I do not know about the greatest accidental acceleration.

Andy Johnson
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