Does anyone know about rocket sled testing in the 1950’s?
I had read that a rocket sled could do over the speed of sound. Did they do this with a human aboard? What speeds were reached with a rocket sled?
Are you thinking about the Northrop “Gee-Whizz” sled? It was manned (by Paul Stapp, an Air Force doctor), and capable of producing 50 G of deceleration. It was not supersonic, reaching only 200 mph. Incidentally, the term “Murphy’s Law” came from this experiment.
I’m not sure if they had supersonic unmanned rocket sleds then, but they sure do now, e.g. at the Sandia National Labs.
scr4 already answered the question with his links, but I wanted to say that when I worked at Edwards AFB in the 80s, I used to drive by the rocket sled track bed all the time.
Thanks so much!
I was very happy to get the low down on Murphy’s Law!
Wow! What fun it would be to see this sled in action.
Many thanks.