Historical Photo of the Month - July 2005

Ejection Seat Test
Photograph Number 373-6344A

In March 1964, the Gemini spacecraft was under development. Rather than using a crew escape rocket as the Mercury spacecraft had done, Gemini used ejection seats, similar to those in military aircraft. Because it was possible that astronauts would have to escape from the Gemini capsule at supersonic speeds and the flying characteristics of a person in a chair were unknown, JPL was asked to conduct a series of tests in its Supersonic Wind Tunnel.

Several small models of an astronaut in an ejection seat were molded from Styrofoam and properly weighted. They were attached to a free-flight launch gun, as shown above, launched upstream and allowed to float downstream. The movements of the models were recorded by a high speed Fastax motion picture camera and the results were sent to the Manned Spacecraft Center (now known as Johnson Space Center) in Houston.

For more information about the history of JPL, contact the JPL Archives.

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