If something goes wrong with the upcoming space shuttle replacement program, and we hope it does not, this is what could save the astronauts’ lives. As they hurtle hundreds of miles per hour into the heavens, and their ship begins to break apart, mission control will scream “ABORT!” (or perhaps something a bit more technical), and the astronauts will be ejected from the capsule with a force that’s actually much greater than the g’s they’ll experience during launch.
