A test apparatus was developed to study the transient performance of hydrostatic journal bearings operating in liquid nitrogen. The objective of the test program was to determine the number of revolutions of shaft contact before liftoff and after touchdown as a function of bearing/shaft material combinations and operating conditions. The results show that bearing liftoff occurs quickly in most cases.Presented as a Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers paper at the STLE/ASME Tribology Conference in St. Louis, Missouri, October 14–16, 1991