NASA Completes First Test for Space-Age HANS
Atlanta, Ga. (Dec. 21, 2010) – What do HANS Device inventor Dr. Robert Hubbard, NASA and NASCAR have in common? All three are collaborating in an effort to improve crash restraints for astronauts.
The first series of crash sled tests was recently undertaken at Wright Patterson Air Force Base using a dummy fitted with a prototype restraint for use during NASA launches and landings. Dustin Gohmert of the Crew and Thermal Systems Division of NASA directed the tests.
The new head restraint resulted from a collaboration first undertaken in 2008 at the Texas Motor Speedway, where officials from NASA’s Johnson Space Center and Hubbard met with NASCAR officials to discuss the use of the sanctioning body’s data base for assessing crash injury dynamics. NASCAR subsequently provided data taken from recorders in race vehicles, which facilitates the development of injury criteria for astronauts by using computer modeling in conjunction with the real world experience from NASCAR competition.
The prototype HANS-type head restraint for astronauts is comprised of a round collar and yoke made from carbon fiber. The helmet and neck ring of the space suit fit to the round collar and yoke, a single unit to be held in place by an astronaut’s shoulder belts.
The testing was the first of more to follow. “The issue is to understand crew safety well enough to optimize crash injury reduction with the many, many other considerations such as weight and the unique environment of space and other threats to crew safety like emergency egress,” said Hubbard, who has been a consultant to NASA since 2007.
The new prototype was built by Jerry “Rabbitt” Lambert of Downing/Atlanta Composites. Lambert has worked as a fabricator for the race team of Jim Downing since 1986. He has participated in four IMSA championships by Downing’s team and the LMP2 class victory at the Le Mans 24-hour scored by Downing’s Kudzu-Mazda. Lambert has been instrumental in the development of the HANS Device, first introduced to the market in 1990 by HANS Performance Products.
