rocket sled

American  

noun

1. a sled propelled along a long track by rocket engines, for testing the effects of high rates of acceleration and deceleration.

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Etymology

Origin of rocket sled

First recorded in 1950–55

Example Sentences

Just as I never looked at Usain Bolt, the great Jamaican sprinter, and mused: What would he be like on a rocket sled?

From Washington Post

The Kokomo Tribune reports that the rocket sled is an obscure piece of military equipment used to test an ejection-rescue system for the B-58 Hustler bomber plane.

From Seattle Times

Engineers tested the rocket sled by accelerating to supersonic speeds and launching a fully pressurized capsule into the sky.

From Seattle Times

Natalia Ocampo, the rocket sled project manager for the launch.

From The Verge

The mathematical equations that describe this phenomenon are so complex that until supercomputer arrived, a few decades ago, nearly all aerodynamic studies had to be conducted as experiments in wind tunnels or rocket sled tests.

From Scientific American