NASA routinely carries out such experiments which may raise many an eyebrows but are essentially aimed at making some scientific measures. The agency recently live-streamed a staged helicopter crash, together with dummies within the copter and a whole plethora of internal and external cameras.
The test was meant to gauge the safety of a helicopter as well as the possible consequences of a crash under controlled circumstances. The helicopter was dropped from a height of 30 feet and it was set up with dozens of internal cameras as well as 13 dummies.
The dummies were placed in the copter to measure the amount of damage they sustain when hitting the ground at around 30 mph. Interestingly, NASA also made use of Microsoft’s Kinect device, so as to track the movement of the dummies just ahead of the crash more accurately.
The fuselage of the helicopter was held in the air with the help of a cable and at the time of the experiment, it was released so that the helicopter hit the ground promptly. The experiment was also used to test out new seat belts and the chances of survival of passengers in the event of such a crash.
The experiment was carried out at 1 p.m. EDT and was live-streamed. You can watch the video of the crash below.
Courtesy: PopSci
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