Lt. Col. John P. Stapp rides the rocket sled at Edwards Air Force Base.

A rocket sled is a test platform that slides along a set of rails, propelled by rockets. They were used extensively by the United States early in the Cold War to accelerate equipment considered too experimental (hazardous) for testing directly in piloted aircraft. The equipment to be tested under high acceleration or high airspeed conditions was installed along with appropriate instrumentation, data recording and telemetry equipment on the sled. The sled was then accelerated according to the experiment's design requirements for data collection along a length of isolated, precisely level and straight test track.

Testing ejection seat systems and technology prior to their use in experimental or operational aircraft was a common application of the rocket sled at Holloman Air Force Base. Perhaps the most famous, the tracks at Edwards Air Force Base were used to test missiles, supersonic ejection seats, airplane shapes and the effects of acceleration on humans.

As its name implies, a rocket sled does not use wheels. Instead, it has sliding pads, called "slippers", which are curved around the head of the rails to prevent the sled from flying off the track. The rail cross-section profile is that of a Vignoles rail, commonly used for railroads. Once the sled achieves sufficient speed, the slippers are suspended above the rails by a thin film of air, essentially creating a fluid bearing.

Unmanned rocket sleds continue to be used to test missile components without requiring costly live missile launches. A world speed record of Mach 8.5 (6,416 mph / 10,325 km/h) was achieved by a four-stage rocket sled at Holloman Air Force Base on April 30, 2003.^[1]

Murphy's law first received public attention during a press conference about rocket sled testing.

The rocket sled track at Edwards Air Force Base was dismantled and used to extend the track at Holloman Air Force Base. The Holloman Sled track is almost 10 miles long with that extension.

External links

• Improbable Research

See also

• Land speed record for railed vehicles
• Land speed record
• Dr. John Stapp

References

1. ^ http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?storyID=123004755

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