The Human Crash Test Dummy

MANNED ROCKET SLED RUN

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You had to hand it to John Stapp. When it came to exploring the limits of human tolerance, he didn't ask test subjects to try anything he wasn't willing to do himself.

On this day in 1954, Stapp set the record for G-force tolerance—a whopping 46.2 Gs.

Tony Reichhardt | READ MORE

Tony Reichhardt is a senior editor at Air & Space.