Exhibits
Come and explore our AMAZING exhibits!
- Centrifuge Control Room
- Mayo Tank
- Contour Couches
- Flight Deck
- Human Centrifuge
- Mercury 7 Gondola
- Space Timeline
Centrifuge Control Room
See the nerve center of the largest and most powerful human centrifuge ever built. Many of the original control panels and historic computer data equipment is still in place. See how apps were built before the advent of modern digital computing.
The Mayo Tank
Initially designed for and used on the centrifuge at the Mayo Clinic, and affectionately known as the “blue shoe”, the Mayo Tank was used to test the effectiveness of water to lessen the effects of high G forces. The tank would be attached to the centrifuge arm and test subjects sat partially submerged in water while in this apparatus. The Mayo Tank was the precursor to the “Iron Maiden” in which Dr. R. Flanagan Gray set the record for withstanding 31.25 Gs of force – a record that stands to this day.
Contour Couches
Among the pioneering work done at Johnsville was the testing of form fitting contour couches. On July 30, 1958, both R. Flanagan Gray and Navy Lieutenant Carter C. Collins used contour couches to ride the centrifuge to peak Gs of 20 and 20.7 respectively. In Collins’ case, the maximum G load of 20.7 was endured for a full six seconds. On display in the museums artifact room are several contour couches used in the centrifuge, including the one used by Donald K. “Deke” Slayton – one of the original Mercury 7 astronauts.
Flight Deck
See where the action happened. The Flight Deck is where America’s pioneering astronauts and other test subjects entered and exited the centrifuge gondola. This is where their vital signs were monitored to ensure that no harm came to them, and various flight profiles were performed to test physiological parameters on each subject. Make sure to take a step out on the gantry and peer into the gondola of the historic Johnsville Centrifuge, and have your picture taken while standing where many of Americas’ astronauts once stood.
Johnsville Centrifuge
The Johnsville Centrifuge is the largest human centrifuge ever built. The 4,000 horsepower General Electric motor was capable of swinging the massive 50 foot arm at linear speeds in excess of 170 MPH, generating up to 40 Gs of force in the gondola at the end of the arm. Installed in 1950, the Johnsville Centrifuge was instrumental in the training of early X-15 pilots – including Neil Armstrong prior to his selection by NASA. As America entered the space race, astronaut training began at Johnsville with the arrival of the Mercury Seven in August of 1959. All of the astronauts involved in the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs trained here as well as early generations of Space Shuttle crews, F-14, and commercial aviation pilots. By 1962 the original gondola was removed and the present gondola was installed, enabling the centrifuge to be used as the worlds’ most sophisticated dynamic flight simulator.
Mercury 7 Gondola
The original gondola that was used on the world famous Johnsville Centrifuge between 1950 and 1962. The Mercury 7 Gondola was in storage at the Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration and Storage Facility of the National Air & Space Museum for 47 years, until it was returned home to Warminster, PA on May 5, 2011 marking the 50th Anniversary of Alan Shepard’s historic flight. It is currently on public display at the Penn State Anechoic Chamber at 300 E. Bristol Road in Warminster while funds are being raised for its preservation. More information about the Mercury 7 Gondola can be found here.
Come and see our Space Timeline and learn how the developments made at Johnsville NADC contributed to the success of the United States Space Program. Understand how leading engineers, researchers and scientists helped our country win the Cold War. You will be suprised when you find out how Top Secret work being done in Bucks County was just as important as that being done in Houston and Florida.
