Our Story

The Fuge is an 11,000-square-foot concrete building that is home to the Johnsville Centrifuge, built by the U.S. Navy starting in 1947. Designed to simulate gravitational forces experienced by pilots and astronauts during flight, the 180-ton centrifuge is the largest and most powerful ever built.

The centrifuge consists of a 10-foot-diameter spheroid gondola mounted to a 50-foot arm that rotated around the circular centrifuge chamber powered by a 4,000-horsepower motor. Capable of accelerating to 173 mph in under 7 seconds, the centrifuge tested the effects of gravitational forces on pilots and helped astronauts prepare for the lift-off and reentry phases of their space missions.

Operational for nearly 50 years, the centrifuge was an invaluable training tool for many of America’s early spacefarers, including Project Mercury Astronauts Alan Shepard, John Glenn, Scott Carpenter, and Donald K. (“Deke”) Slayton, and Apollo 11 crew members who first walked on the moon, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin!

Today, the centrifuge is “the star attraction” in The Fuge’s largest venue and creates an otherworldly ambience for prom goers, newlyweds, bar and bat mitzvants and their guests. To arrange a tour of the Johnsville Centrifuge or to learn more about The Fuge’s fascinating history, call 215-589-0611.