NASA aeronautics researchers recently dropped a small helicopter from a height of 35 feet (10.7 m) to see whether an expandable honeycomb cushion called a deployable energy absorber could lessen the destructive force of a crash.
Researchers at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., are testing the "deployable energy absorber" with the help of a helicopter donated by the Army, a crash test dummy contributed by the Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., and a 240-foot (73.2 m) tall structure once used to teach astronauts how to land on the moon.
A sort of "honeycomb airbag" created to cushion future astronauts may end up in helicopters to help prevent injuries instead.
Researchers at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., are testing the "deployable energy absorber" with the help of a helicopter donated by the Army, a crash test dummy contributed by the Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., and a 240-foot (73.2 m) tall structure once used to teach astronauts how to land on the moon.
A sort of "honeycomb airbag" created to cushion future astronauts may end up in helicopters to help prevent injuries instead.