What I look like at 9 times gravity

[rbattelle]

Hey guys, thought some of you might find this amusing. I am a test subject for a centrifuge. For those who don't know what a centrifuge is, it's a device that spins you around in a circle to generate centrifugal force, thereby simulating increased gravity (as seen on most space movies such as "Space Cowboys"). In the attached photo I'm being subjected to 9 times the force of gravity (9 G)... that means I weigh approximately 1350 lb at the time this photo was taken. Needless to say, my face doesn't look much like me in the picture, since the force is trying to cram my entire skull down my own neck. The force axis is through the top of my head parallel with my spine. Yes, this hurt. Normal testing runs in the 7-8 G range, but during training they make you go to 9. Ouch. I have a couple other shots, but they look much worse.



-Ryan

 

[lmills]

thats quite a pic there Ryan. Looks like fun.

 

[AfterBurner]

you look a little... shall i say strained :-laf

 

[AfterBurner]

So why were you doing this? you training for fighters or to be an astronaut or what?

 

[rbattelle]

So why were you doing this? you training for fighters or to be an astronaut or what?

Neither. They need human subjects to test the effects of high g-loading on things like ability to move and cognitive abilities. I volunteered, and I get extra pay for it.

 

[HoleshotHolset]

Have any members of your family said that the centrifuge shots are an improvement over your '1G look'?



It would have taken my Dad about . 25 seconds to say that phrase... :-laf



Matt

 

[Headshot zod]

silly me... ... ... . I thought you were testing some new mods for your truck

 

[rbattelle]

I am not a particularly attractive man at 1G (or so I've been lead to believe)... at 9G it's just about 9 times worse! LOL. :-laf



BTW, I made a comment on that earlier post that they're testing things like the effects on cognitive abilities. I meant during the run... there are no known long term negative effects of high g-loads. The only documented long term effect that I'm aware of is subjects exposed to lots of high-g's tend to have more female children than males. I guess the X-chromosome sperm are stronger than the Y's!

 

[michigandon]

Wanna know an even easier way to make yourself look like that? Bum yerself a ride in kaptns truck!



Don

 

[The patriot]

Were you wearing a G suit, or were you able to stay conchice con... con... awake w/o one?

I need a spell check here.

Eric

 

[Straight6Jeff]

Heck, I look like that every night when I sit on the throne... or should I say leave a.....



It is also what teh Guys at Andy's (SmokinRam) shop looked like when I visited a coupel of weeks ago.

 

[klenger]

Reminds me of the movie "Spys Like Us". The guys are walking down the hallway after riding the centrufuge and their faces are all controted.

 

[SRadke]

Psst..... Eric... ... it's conscious... ... . I've got a spell checker bookmarked



-Scott

 

[rbattelle]

I am wearing a g-suit. No way I'd attempt it without one!

 

[HEMI®Dart]

Cool picture rbattelle. Excellent thread!

 

[HoleshotHolset]

I am wearing a g-suit. No way I'd attempt it without one!

Is it necessary to wear g-string underwear underneath a g-suit? One could only imagine that even boxer shorts would transform into a g-string while riding a centrifuge. :-laf



What kind of questions did they ask you during the 'flight'?



Matt

 

[IC Smoke]

looks like a fun time!

Also it kinda looks like my ford buddies riding shotgun in the cummins at WOT!!

 

[GFrance]

No long term effects. Seems like if it would strain the spermicide that it could'nt be too good for the gray matter either.

Why do you think they want volenteers? Do you have to sign a waivier to not sue them if your kids turn out to look like aliens?

Never been much for E-ticket rides at this stage of my life. I get dizzy just bending over to tie my shoes.

 

[rbattelle]

Is it necessary to wear g-string underwear underneath a g-suit? One could only imagine that even boxer shorts would transform into a g-string while riding a centrifuge. :-laf



What kind of questions did they ask you during the 'flight'?



Matt

Well, obviously you have to wear a g-string in a color that nicely complements the g-suit. :-laf



They don't ask questions during the run, but they make you perform certain tasks that simulate some task a pilot might perform in flight. You can't see it, obviously, but I'm sitting on an F-16 seat securely strapped in just like a pilot. I have a stick/rudder and a pair of rudder pedals. The "cab" as we call it is shaped like a sphere. The entire front wall that I'm looking at is a screen that covers 180 degrees of vision side-to-side and top-to-bottom. A computer generates images on the screen which I am tasked to interact with in certain ways, depending on what the particular study is. Some of them involve flying an aircraft-shaped blip to follow some target on the screen. Others are more abstract. Most of them test your ability to perform a number of tasks simultaneously. Things that sound easy at 1G but get harder as you're under load and trying to keep the blood in your brain (to maintain consciousness). For example, tracking a "blip" as it moves across an arc at varying speed in order to predict when it will intersect some arbitrarily-positioned intersection while simultaneously determining if a block of random letters contains a vowel. Sounds weird... hard to do.



It can be very hard to concentrate on things when you're also trying not to black out as gravity attemtps to cram every organ and all your blood into your shoes. One time I actually forgot to breathe, and it was only one of the technicians reminding me in the headphones that saved me from blacking out.



-Ryan

 

[Tony T.]

Hey guys, thought some of you might find this amusing. I am a test subject for a centrifuge. For those who don't know what a centrifuge is, it's a device that spins you around in a circle to generate centrifugal force, thereby simulating increased gravity (as seen on most space movies such as "Space Cowboys"). In the attached photo I'm being subjected to 9 times the force of gravity (9 G)... that means I weigh approximately 1350 lb at the time this photo was taken. Needless to say, my face doesn't look much like me in the picture, since the force is trying to cram my entire skull down my own neck. The force axis is through the top of my head parallel with my spine. Yes, this hurt. Normal testing runs in the 7-8 G range, but during training they make you go to 9. Ouch. I have a couple other shots, but they look much worse.



-Ryan

Hey Ryan now I recognize you, you looked that way at that Pink Floyd concert in 1977 or was it Ted Nugent.



Tony :-laf