NASA astronauts to under centrifuge training at Ohio base

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) - Astronauts will undergo advanced centrifuge training at an Ohio Air Force base this week.

The Dayton Daily News reports nine NASA astronauts and one Boeing astronaut are scheduled to receive medical evaluations and training at Wright-Patterson Air Force base outside Dayton on Thursday and Friday. The astronauts are being trained to launch into low-Earth orbit on Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsules.

This is the first time NASA has required centrifuge training for astronauts since the Apollo program. The training is necessary because astronauts will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere in capsules that which produce higher and more intense gravitational loads.

The $34.4 million centrifuge is capable of producing 15 times the force of gravity while rotating 45 times per minute.

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Information from: Dayton Daily News, http://www.daytondailynews.com