Operational Characteristics:
- 12.5 G human and 20 G maximum acute or chronic exposures
- Humans, rodents, cells, plants and hardware payloads
- Human free roaming habitat within a cab
- Computer controlled G profiles
The 20-G Centrifuge is used to evaluate flight hardware as well as to test the effects of hypergravity on humans and nonhuman subjects.
The 20-G Centrifuge is capable of producing forces up to 20 times that of terrestrial gravity. The maximum G level attainable is dependent upon the mass of the specific payload.
Mounted on the 58-foot diameter centrifuge are three enclosed cabs ( 7.6 ft x 5.9 ft x 6.8 ft.) One cab, mounted at one end of the rotating arm, contains a modified jet fighter seat in which a human sits during tests. A second cab, at the other end of the rotating arm, is often used for non-human subjects. This cab contains a swing frame and can be configured to meet an investigator's needs. The third cab may be used either as a near-center control for angular acceleration or to study the effects of gravity gradients. A person lying in this cab with his/her head near the center of rotation experiences a G gradient along the body during rotation.
A medical monitoring system and additional safety features permit human studies up to
12.5 G. The centrifuge is controlled either manually by an operator or by using a previously established computer-generated profile. Areas adjacent to the centrifuge room are available for subject preparation, subject monitoring, pre-and post-centrifugation testing, and data collection.
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Performance limits and specifications:
Radius: 29 ft
Payload: 1,200 lbs
Max G: 20 G (human-rated to 12.5 G)
Max RPM: 50 RPM
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