Daisy Track

The Daisy Track Decelerator was a sled-track facility at the 6571st Aeromedical Research Laboratory at Holloman Air Force Base used for equipment, animal, and human impact and deceleration testing from 1955 to 1985. Six different sleds offered a variety of positions for testing rapid deceleration. Before 1960, small ejection seat rockets propelled the sleds down the rails; from 1960 to 1985, a pneumatic piston device did so, giving the track its nickname. The facility tested many harnesses and aircraft and spacecraft seats, including those for the Apollo Command Module. Some of its most significant research was conducted by Col. John Paul Stapp and his staff with the automobile industry to test various types of seat belts, and because of his contributions to this field, Dr. Stapp was present when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the first seat belt law in America.

Alamogordo, New Mexico · United States