The American newspaper Houston Chronicle published material at the end of last week. It reports that the US National Aeronautics and Space Agency and the companies working with it used the bodies and organs of deceased people in experiments
This information was reported to the publication by representatives of the agency. The three bodies were used at Ohio State University last summer and last fall during tests of the landing systems for the new Orion spacecraft, they said.
The main objective of the tests conducted by NASA security experts, was to study the possible consequences for astronauts of a failed landing of a spacecraft on Earth. The bodies were studied before and after the experiments, which made it possible to calculate the possible variants of the negative impact of the lander designs on the limbs, spine and spinal cord. In practice, it is almost impossible to determine the degree of damage to internal organs using dummies used during crash tests.
"Such tests help NASAit is better to understand the possible damage that can be sustained by astronauts during landing, says engineer Dustin Homert. - A spaceship is a much more complex device than any car, including racing cars. With the help of such tests, we hope to develop the most comfortable space suits and chairs. " NASA
medical officer David Steitz assures that all accepted ethical standards for the use of the bodies of the deceased for scientific purposes were observed during the tests. “From a public point of view, this is a very inconvenient topic,” the specialist admits. "But we follow all ethical and medical procedures as the bodies were bequeathed for scientific research."