Pin of the Month - July 2024: Johnsville Centrifuge

Please note: this item is a preorder and will ship by the first week of September. If you have other items in your order, they will not ship until this item is ready. The Johnsville Centrifuge, once the most powerful in the world, was a key part of early astronaut training at NASA. Located at the Johnsville Naval Air Development Center in Pennsylvania, it was originally built in the 1940s to prepare military pilots for high-G conditions. The centrifuge featured a 15-meter arm powered by a 4,000-horsepower electric engine, capable of subjecting its riders to accelerations of up to 40 Gs in just 7 seconds. It played a crucial role in helping scientists understand the effects of extreme G-forces on the human body, leading to the development of techniques and equipment like the pressurized G-suit to protect astronauts. Over the decades, the centrifuge was used for various experiments, including those by scientists pushing their own physical limits. Although decommissioned in 2004, the faci