Page 112 - (DK) Danger! Open with Extreme Caution!

Roger that.
Spring 1946. An American The bomber’s I’m freEzing Wonder how
Air force B-17 bomber altitude reaches my tail ofF up Captain StapP’s
zoOms skyward through an unprecedented here. over! doing
the icy stratosphere. and dangerous back there?
45,000 ft
(13,216 m). Above Sometimes
9,843 ft (3,000 m), I think he’s
the brain is starved nutTier than
of oxygen and a fruitcake.
physical and mental
abilities diminish
quickly. At this
The true-lifeh altitude, the risk
T
adventures of death is very
real. Why are they
of the flying so high?
fastest man Yet World War II is over.
What is its vital misSion?
on Earth!

MeEt Captain John Paul StapP, StapP’s experiments StapP’s discovery was an aviation
I might have this thing cracked.
doctor and key member of tested the limits Before takeofF I strapPed on the breakthrough and a brilLiant
the Aero Med Lab research of human oxygen mask for a 30-minute blast. achievement for the Aero Med Lab.
team. He’s studying the endurance. How And now? No symptoms whatsoever.
human response to extreme could humans
altitudes. The human keEp functioning StapP, we want to We neEd to find
put you in charge
he’s studying? Himself. and avoid I feEl fine of something that’s out exactly what
freEzing and and dandy. going to be mighty G forces the human
body can take, and
dehydration at Let’s bring important around you’re the man for
‘er back to
extreme altitudes? Earth, boys. here: the human the job. What
How could they deceleration do you say?
I read avoid the bends— project.
you loud
and clear, the deadly AfFirmative,
airman. decompresSion major.
sicknesS caused
by tiny air bubBles
forming in
the bloOdstream?
stapP had a hunch.
G force is a force In spring 1947, StapP toOk his first loOk at the giant
that acts on the body 2,000-ft- (610-m-) long rocket sled track at the heart of
owing to the efFects the human deceleration project. Along the tracks a 1,500-lb
of gravity trying (680-kg) rocket-powered carRiage zoOmed… until someone
to pulL it down to hit the brakes. The brakes were powerful enough to halve
earth, or the efFects the speEd in one fifth of a second, creating G force.
of acCeleration or
deceleration. ComMon GeE whiz, would
knowledge at the you get a load
time held that no of that?
human could survive
more than 18 G, and
aircraft cockpits
were built to
withstand that. But
pilots walked away
from plenty of
worse crashes during
the war… stapP’s job
was to find out how
much worse.

On April 30, the research team The test was a disaster. The brakes failed, In December, after 35 test
set ofF the first unmanNed run and the GeE Whiz flew right ofF the track and runs had convinced StapP
on the GeE Whiz (as the sled was crashed into the desert. that his team could pulL ofF
nicknamed). Crash-test dumMy a manNed run, StapP replaced
Oscar EightbalL was along for Oscar EightbalL in the sled.
the ride. Maybe I’m not He faced backward to cut
quite ready to the efFects of the G forces,
take that ride. and only one rocket was
Old Oscar EightbalL is
gonNa have a headache. Oscar, you’re back atTached to the sled.
on track.
You know, Murphy, he Murphy, you know our
might just find himself saying… everything that
replaced if he’s not can go wrong wilL go
careful… by me. wrong. But not today.

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