LEWIS HAMILTON TRAINS FOR ASTRONAUT FLIGHT WITH IWC SHAFFHAUSEN AND THE POLARIS PROGRAM
In a new short movie produced by IWC Schaffhausen, Formula One star Lewis Hamilton embarks on a flight training for astronauts. During the training day, the seven-time F1 world champion and IWC brand ambassador was accompanied by students from Dibia DREAM, a non-profit organisation fostering STEM education.
IWC Schaffhausen teamed up with the Polaris Program and instructor pilot, John “Slick” Baum, to offer Hamilton an opportunity to experience the flight training. The program recently completed the first of three human spaceflight missions, and during their five days in orbit, the Polaris Dawn crew wrote history by successfully performing the first commercial spacewalk.
As part of the training, Hamilton had to experience a fighter jet. All early astronauts were fighter jet pilots after all, and ever since then, it has been an essential skill for going to space. While the g-loads experienced in a jet or a rocket cannot be compared to the jet, training in one still offers compelling benefits for astronauts. Most importantly, it allows the crew members to familiarise themselves with operating in a high-risk and high-consequence environment, similar to what they would experience during launch.
Baum gave Hamilton a detailed overview of the different maneuvers that simulate various situations during spaceflight. During their subsequent discovery flight lasting almost one hour, Lewis Hamilton and his instructor performed a series of them, including accelerations and decelerations to experience lateral g-forces. They also practiced higher g-loads by banking the aircraft hard. A highlight was them flying a parabola figure, during which Hamilton briefly experienced the feeling of weightlessness.
Students that attended from Dibia Dream had the chance to meet Hamilton for a short Q&A prior to take-off. As they cheered along the runway, they sent an uplifting message to other people watching: you can be anything you want in life – whether it is a racing driver, a pilot or even an astronaut.
