Approximate: 2 ft. 1 in. deep x 5 ft. 7 in. long x 2 ft. wide (63.5 x 170.18 x 60.96cm)
Type:
EQUIPMENT-Survival
Country of Origin:
United States of America
Summary:
Astronauts in Project Mercury, the first U.S. human spaceflight program, experienced very strong "g" forces during acceleration into space and deceleration during reentry--up to 11 times Earth's gravity. To better withstand these forces, each astronaut had special form-fitted couches made for their bodies. John H. Glenn, Jr., the first American to orbit the Earth, used this couch in the Mercury Procedures Trainer, the first simulator in the U.S. human spaceflight program.
To create this couch, a NASA contractor made a plaster cast of the astronaut's body in a sitting position, then used the form to make the couch out of fiberglass. NASA transferred this artifact to the Smithsonian in 1968.
Alternate Name:
John Glenn Training Couch
Credit Line:
Transferred from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
