Early Human Factors Studies for Spaceflight at the Aeromedical Field Laboratory at Holloman Air Force Base

摘要

During the early 1950s, human spaceflight was clearly on the horizon. But the knowledge of how humans could survive and function during spaceflight was embryonic. Concerns fell into two categories: space biology and biodynamics. Specific issues in space biology were the effects of cosmic radiation, physical and psychological effects of microgravity, the capability to construct a space capsule that could ensure a safe environment for human survival and performance, and procedures for selecting astronauts. The biodynamics concern was whether the human body could tolerate the acceleration forces produced by rocket launch and the deceleration forces of atmospheric drag during re-entry. The Aeromedical Field Laboratory at Holloman Air Force Base in Alamogordo, NM, became one of America's primary research organizations for examining those issues. Between 1953 and 1959, two men played pivotal roles in the investigations of these concerns. Both were Air Force flight surgeons. Colonel John Paul Stapp, M.D., Ph.D., headed the Aeromedical Field Laboratory, and Major David Simons, M.D., served under him as chief of the facility's Space Biology Branch. The creativity and dedication of both of them and those who served with them answered many basic concerns, and were instrumental in enabling NASA's manned space program to move forward.