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Chris Johnston
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8 months ago
in Personal Missile Will Send You Into Sub-Orbit on OhGizmo!
"...and partly to mitigate g-forces (they pulled the same trick in the Apollo lunar modules)"
Actually, the reason the astronauts were standing in the Lunar Modules is because the designers realized that in 1/6th gravity the astronauts' legs could handle the stress of landing, so they could save weight on seats; and because the astronauts were standing right up to the windows, those windows could be much smaller (thus weighing much less) than they'd have to be if the astronauts were seated.
At least this new design has some support for the passenger's butt, so a 3g+ launch would be somewhat tolerable.
Actually, the reason the astronauts were standing in the Lunar Modules is because the designers realized that in 1/6th gravity the astronauts' legs could handle the stress of landing, so they could save weight on seats; and because the astronauts were standing right up to the windows, those windows could be much smaller (thus weighing much less) than they'd have to be if the astronauts were seated.
At least this new design has some support for the passenger's butt, so a 3g+ launch would be somewhat tolerable.
1 reply
Evan Ackerman
Heh, I was trying to paraphrase, but yeah, you are entirely correct. Did you watch "From the Earth to the Moon?"
