Some context… What do you think NASA would do if it wanted to test the effects of wind gusts on one of its rockets? How much do you think they’d spend designing, planning, and testing the test system? For better or worse this is why space will ultimately be concurred not by government programs, but by private enterprises (granted for the a lot of the private endeavors are being funded by NASA and friends.)

“We wanted to get a feel for how the vehicle would react to sudden changes in wind speeds as it moved upward. The only thing we could think of to induce a similar force was to attach a really long cable to one of the legs and have someone pull on it during a hover.”

via Armadillo Aerospace – News Archive.

(original video)