The centrifuge is used to acclimate students to the high speeds they will go through as an Air Force Pilot, the goal is to teach soon-to-be pilots, to get used to new breathing techniques and muscles contractions.
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'A centrifuge is a machine that uses force to move its contents away from a center or axis. It is typically used for separating substances of different densities (solids with higher density will be deposited near the edge of the centrifuge container, while the lighter solids will be concentrated near the center of the container), for removing moisture (think of a salad spinner), or for simulating gravitational effects.'
This test throws your body into extreme acceleration. The blood is forced very quickly into the head, which can cause temporary damage to the body. Pilots can lose colour vision or even complete vision, and can eventually lose consciousness, which is called the G-LOC. According to NASA, two 1,250-horsepower motors power the centrifuge, which can spin up to 156 mph, more than 30 rotations per minute... Impressive!
Michael Collins recalls in his 1974 autobiography Carrying the Fire:
'If you breathe normally, you find you can exhale just fine, but when you try to inhale, it’s impossible to reinflate your lungs, just as if steel bands were tightly encircling your chest. So you have to develop an entirely new method, keeping the lungs almost fully inflated at all times, and giving rapid little pants ‘off the top.’ '
This video is a compilation of aviators and astronauts undertaking the G-force training, released by We Are The Mighty, from their patches and some of the onscreen text, it looks like the trainees are from Air Force Education and Training Command, possibly in the Texas National Guard.
Despite the fact that it looks so painful, it's also, with all sympathies, hilarious.
Check out the video to see the pilots' reactions.
