It is also the arch nemesis of every student that has come to work on it.

Originally built by NASA for use by the Neuroscience Laboratory of Johnson Space Center, the hulking bulk of metal and wires was donated to the University of Colorado’s Bioastronautics department.

The sled moves along a metal track using air-cushioned bearings similar to how an air hockey table works. By creating a computer program that dictates a specific motion profile, the sled is able to translate along one axis while the chair inside tilts the user to the left and the right.

At least, that was the theory explained to me by a then-PhD candidate who had spent the better part of six years at war with it.

Together, we struggled to implement several different updates and patches to the TTS. This included integrating a two-way audio system so that the operator could speak with the user strapped inside the box. It also meant serving as a guinea pig while the box shuddered, skidded, and whizzed across the floor. Although the box is - and always has been - safe to the best of my knowledge, it truly represents the more chaotic side of aerospace engineering.

Luckily, we have Randy the crash test dummy to endure the TTS’s more wild antics.