# astronaut in centrifuge

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronaut-in-centrifuge/204134>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [September 27, 2003, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronaut-in-centrifuge/204134 "2003-09-27T07:01:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Mr\_Salads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@Mr\_Salads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Salads)\
**Post date:** [September 27, 2003, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronaut-in-centrifuge/204134/1 "2003-09-27T07:01:48Z")

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A long time ago I saw a video of an astronaut in a training centrifuge who subsequently passed out inside it, and I’ve been meaning to find this again but to no avail. I checked my public library and everything. Does anyone know where I could possibly find something like this, or where it would potentially be? Has anyone else seen this? Let me know…

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**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronaut-in-centrifuge/204134/2 "2003-09-29T02:57:14Z")

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Glad I was prowling deep; I’d hate for this thread to go unnoticed.  
You’re probably thinking of Colonel John Stapp, although he wasn’t an astronaut, and he wasn’t in a centrifuge. He was an Air Force doctor who volunteered for experiments in human acceleration tolerance (and I do mean volunteered, in a genuine sense: The experiments were his idea in the first place). He repeatedly strapped into a rocket sled that underwent up to 40-some gees of deceleration, and pushed himself to the absolute limits (passing out, broken ribs, bleeding eyes, etc.). I know that videos of his tests exist, and being made by the government, they should be public domain. But darned if I can find a copy online. Anyone out there with better Google skills want to give it a try?

At the very least, I suppose I’ve given you a lead to check on, next time you’re at the library.

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**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\
**Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronaut-in-centrifuge/204134/3 "2003-09-29T05:28:29Z")

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Good timing. Check out this lovely recent article on Stapp and related matters from the [Annals of Improbable Research](http://www.improb.com/airchives/paperair/volume9/v9i5/murphy/murphy0.html).