Rocket sled
A rocket sled is a simple vehicle with rocket propulsion. This can be a slide in the traditional sense, ie by a running sled base vehicle as the end of the 1920s built RAK BOBs. When the rocket sled used today, this concerns mostly to vehicles with a linear guide.
Be rocket sled usually for scientific experiments, sometimes also used for speed record attempts.
The currently valid world record for land vehicles was set up on 30 April 2003 with a four-stage rocket sled at Holloman Air Force Base. The speed of the rocket sled was Mach 8.5 ( 10,325 km / h ).
Use in research
Between 1947 and 1951 a total of 74 manned rocket sled runs with took place at today's Edwards Air Force Base, where the effect of strong accelerations on the human organism should be explored. Became well known in this context especially John Paul Stapp, who was briefly exposed to 46.2 g at one of these races in the braking phase - the highest g - force ( negative acceleration), the ever endured a man voluntarily. The experiments brought many new insights, which helped to improve the safety of civil and military aviation, such as the development of new aircraft seats.
Even with the development of new missile missiles carriages to come. So to be carried out on the Holloman Air Force Base on behalf of the U.S. Department of Defense attempts to develop new warheads. The experiments with the rocket sled are expected to cost $ 10 million, but replace real missile test flights, which would cost $ 300 million.