NASA Will Crash A Marine Helicopter On Purpose Today
On Wednesday, Aug. 28, NASA plans to drop a helicopter from 30 feet in the air to test safety features, like improved seatbelts.
You can watch the destruction happen live online at 1 p.m. EDT.
"Almost 40 cameras inside and outside of the helicopter will record how 13 crash test dummies react before, during and after impact," lead test engineer Martin Annett said in a statement."Onboard computers will also record more than 350 channels of data."
The former Marine helicopter will be lifted into the air by cables and then pendulum swung into a bed of soil, according to the space agency. When the cables are released the helicopter will smash into the ground at 30 mph, which "represents a severe but survivable condition under both civilian and military requirements," says NASA.