In the twentieth century, the mining industry in South Africa drove research on the limits of human physiology in high heat. Tracking NASA's use of South African research, this paper asks how thermal physiologists tested racial categories in environments that will not sustain biological processes.
Long abstract:
In the mid-twentieth century, South African mining companies developed the deepest and hottest mines on earth. As they moved deeper, they established new laboratories to test the limits of human physiology in high heat. This paper builds on research which examines how South Africa's mining industry tested and remade racial categories in "Tropical Africa" using surface acclimatization chambers. Tracking NASA's use of South African laboratory studies, particularly within its technical standards, I examine how U.S. contractors translated South African racial categories for reference publications. Engaging theories of racial capitalism, I further analyze how thermal physiologists reinvested in racial logics in environments that will not sustain biological processes.