I was reading an article about the training of astronauts, and I read about the "rite of passage" G machine that John Glenn described as sadistic, lol. My question is about the amount of G forces that the normal astronaut could take (my research leads me to believe that the Mercury astronauts had to sustain much more in the Redstone and Atlas rockets than in the Apollo Saturns (please correct me if I'm wrong). Any information about this test, and the amount of G forces that the astronauts had to be able to handle in order to fly the rocket will be greatly appreciated. I understand from the article that the test had a max of 32 G's, which from what I have read before the G's that the astronauts could take was very low (but I'm sure much higher than your average person - especially me - I am known for my terrible motion sickness, lol). Am I right in assuming that they could sustain close to 12 G's, or is it more like 4 or 5? Did anyone that ever used this test have lasting health problems from pulling too many G's? Is there a record for the person that was able to take the most and still function? It sounded like torture to me, lol.
If I'm way off in my questions, please just correct me gently. This is a subject that I had just closed my mind to for 38 years, thinking I wasn't smart enough to ever understand it. As I have gotten older (and wiser), I have found that I have an intense interest in the subject of space travel (mainly in the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo eras). I am constantly surprising myself with just how much I DO have the ability to learn if I apply myself, and that's what I'm trying to do.
Thank you so much for any answers you give.
If I'm way off in my questions, please just correct me gently. This is a subject that I had just closed my mind to for 38 years, thinking I wasn't smart enough to ever understand it. As I have gotten older (and wiser), I have found that I have an intense interest in the subject of space travel (mainly in the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo eras). I am constantly surprising myself with just how much I DO have the ability to learn if I apply myself, and that's what I'm trying to do.
Thank you so much for any answers you give.