Return to Human Space Flight home page

G-Meter

The g-meter is a self-contained accelerometer and display unit mounted on panel F7. It senses linear acceleration along the Z axis (normal) of the vehicle. A mass weight in the unit is supported vertically by two guide rods and is constrained by a constant-rate helical spring. The inertial force of the mass is proportional to the inertial force of the vehicle and, hence, to the input acceleration, under conditions of constant acceleration. Displacement of the mass is translated to pointer displacement through a rack-and-pinion gear train whose output is linear with input acceleration. The display indicates acceleration from minus 2 g's to plus 4 g's. The g-meter requires no power and has no software interface. Like all the dedicated displays, it has an external variable incandescent lamp.


Curator: Kim Dismukes | Responsible NASA Official: John Ira Petty | Updated: 04/07/2002
Web Accessibility and Policy Notices