posted on Jun, 19 2004 @ 06:40 AM
In the early days of the X-planes NASA used anthropomorphic dummys to test there ejection seats.
Were any of these dummies ever mistaken for alien bodies as they came crashing back to earth after being ejected from the "TOP-SECRET"
X-planes.
NASA has pioneered major flight developments, from breaking the sound barrier to lifting bodys to sweep wing aircraft to hypersonic flight. Almost
from the beginning, the experimental aircraft were equipped with ejection seats. The Northrop X-4 was the first one to be equipped with a rudimentary
ejection seat. The seat was an early first generation design, which meant that the primary design consideration was to get the pilot clear of the
aircraft, after which he was to manually seperate from the seat and deploy his parachute. This photo shows the seat after being removed from the X-4
for installation in the X-1E in 1954. This photo is particularly interesting because of the crude test dummy.
Later, anthropomorphic dummys such as the ADAM were developed to provide more telemetry about the different forces experienced by an ejecting pilot.
In the mean time, the dummys job was to prove the pilot would clear the aircraft without having any portion of its anatomy coming into contact with
the cockpit fixtures.
The seat and dummy would simply crash back to earth with some force as this post-test photo shows.
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[edit on 20-6-2004 by quaneeri]
[edit on 20-6-2004 by quaneeri]