When NASA wants to test how well a space ship will survive a crash landing it just drops it. However, as this montage from the space agency's Landing and Impact Research Facility shows, this process isn't nearly as violent as you might expect. The footage above, shot at NASA's Langley Research Center in Virginia, shows various craft and modules that have been hoisted up the center's 240-foot metal gantry before being dropped back down on the end of a pendulum — landing either on a dirt floor or in a deep pool of water. The facility itself has been in use since 1965 when it was known as NASA's Lunar Landing Research Facility. Then, it allowed astronauts including Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to train for the Apollo 11 Moon landings, while now it test vehicles from military aircraft to race cars. We're sure not all of them crash as neatly as those in this video.
This NASA crash test montage is surprisingly zen
This NASA crash test montage is surprisingly zen ,