Of Masks and Manikins

           Credits: NASA/David C. Bowman

SMART DUMMIES: News of NASA's campaign to return to manned spaceflight continues to come in, one milestone after another. 

Recently, crash test dummies outfitted with modified Advanced Crew Escape System suits were placed in the crew seats of an Orion test capsule during a drop test at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. This test is in preparation for Orion's future splashdown landings in the Pacific Ocean.

Engineers drop an Orion test capsule with crash-test dummies inside into NASA Langley Research Center’s 20-foot-deep Hydro Impact Basin to simulate what the spacecraft may experience when splashing down in the Pacific Ocean after deep-space missions.

Credits: NASA

Data from the dummies will help engineers ensure astronauts aren't injured during splashdown.

“Not only can we learn how the structure reacts to a water impact in these tests, but we can also understand how splashdown loads are transmitted to the seats and crew,” said Mark Baldwin, crew injury lead for Orion prime contractor, Lockheed Martin.

Some of the sensors on the dummies measure localized responses at the head and neck, to protect against common impact injuries like concussion and spinal fracture.

This recent test was the fourth vertical drop test. In the coming months, five swing tests of the capsule with the fully suited dummies will be conducted.

Eventually, and Orion capsule will be placed atop the powerful Space Launch System rocket, hopefully for NASA’s journey to Mars.

HAPPY WOOKIEE: The woman who won the Internet today is a mom in Texas who loves Star Wars. Candace Payne posted a video of herself trying on a Chewbacca mask that has built in sound effects. Hilarity ensured. The video had over 70 MILLION views in 24 hours. 

Being the big Star Wars fans we are, of course we had to rush right out and buy one (not an easy task, as they were selling like hotcakes after the video went viral).

We ordered ours online from Target, and picked it up this afternoon. The kids experimented with it in the car. Here's Annabelle trying it on for size. ...

Poor CJ found out that being a Wookiee isn't all that easy. ...