Astronauts in Project Mercury, the first U.S. human spaceflight program, experienced very strong "g" forces during acceleration into space and deceleration during reentry--up to 11 times Earth's gravity. To better withstand these forces, each astronaut had special form-fitted couches made for their bodies. John H. Glenn, Jr., the first American to orbit the Earth, used this couch in the Mercury Procedures Trainer, the first simulator in the U.S. human spaceflight program.
To create this couch, a NASA contractor made a plaster cast of the astronaut's body in a sitting position, then used the form to make the couch out of fiberglass. NASA transferred this artifact to the Smithsonian in 1968.
This object is on display in Human Spaceflight at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA.
United States of America
EQUIPMENT-Survival
Approximate: 2 ft. 1 in. deep x 5 ft. 7 in. long x 2 ft. wide (63.5 x 170.18 x 60.96cm)
Fiberglas, metal
John Glenn Training Couch
A19680293000
Transferred from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
National Air and Space Museum
Usage conditions apply
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