Discovery - Colonel (Dr.) John Paul Stapp

Colonel (Dr.) John Paul Stapp

1950's -- Colonel (Dr.) John Paul Stapp at The New Mexico Museum of Space History. He was a frequent and most welcomed visitor to the Center. Stapp was not only the "fastest human on earth;" he was the quickest to stop. In 1954, America's original Rocketman attained a then-world record land speed of 632 mph, going from a standstill to a speed faster than a .45 bullet in five seconds on an especially-designed rocket sled, and then screeched to a dead stop in 1.4 seconds, sustaining more than 40g's of thrust, all in the interest of safety. Image and Caption Source: U.S. Air Force www.af.mil

Colonel John Paul Stapp’s work (discussed in the last post) is yet another example of discovery which can both mitigate a risk and intuit a reward (Discovery - Part 4 post). His work with rocket sleds was able to determine human physiological limits in sustaining g-forces. This work, conducted at Edwards Air Force Base and later at Holloman Air Force Base used a rocket sled that accelerated to great speeds and was then decelerated using a water brake. While testing on the rocket sled, Colonel Stapp underwent g-forces of greater than 40 g’s.

Source: Wikipedia artice on Colonel Stapp (via U.S. Air Force www.af.mil)

Colonel Stapp’s work subjected him to a multitude of stresses and injuries as a test subject, including retinal damage, fractures and broken limbs and ribs.

Colonel Stapp’s work was instrumental in facilitating use of high speed aircraft and ventures into outer space. It was used to determine that pilots could operate aircraft under high performance conditions and eject at high speeds and survive. Thus this work was ground-breaking in forging the path of future discoveries, both directly, and indirectly as space and aeronautical efforts have fed technological advances in many areas.

Colonel Stapp’s work in deceleration was instrumental in mitigating risk on terra firma, bringing about seat belts which we (we hope) use every day in our motor vehicle trips. The Air Force suffered losses from auto accidents. Colonel Stapp was able to use his work on deceleration to argue for safety restraints for the motor vehicles. His work in this area was done at Holloman Air Force Base, using crash test dummies. This application was an exercise in creativity, taking one application and using it in another area to additional benefit.

Colonel Stapp’s research in auto safety was continued in the context of the Stapp Car Crash Conference which provided a broader context in which to support continued research into auto safety.

Colonel Stapp’s work in the military carries on to this day with Flight Surgeons who are always seeking to use their expertise to extend the boundaries of knowledge and performance for our nation’s pilots as they fly more and more powerful, higher performance aircraft and play deeper forays into Outer Space.

Colonel Stapp and I share a common ancestor going way back to around 1700, which is one element adding to my interest in his work. Genealogy is another interesting topic which I hope to include as a blog topic sometime down the road.