WOW!

Wow!   I have to take a deep breath as I sit down to write this post!  Today’s Weightless Flight of Discovery experience was truly like nothing on Earth!  I will have to give a better description of the day later, but here is the short story.

The day started sleep deprived as I had an impossible time trying to sleep.  I was just as excited as any kid the night before any big event in life!  I had to be up early and on the road to Greenwich where the all the other prospective “Zeronauts” were gathering to prepare experiments, get last minute training and eat the proper foods for breakfast.  After some last minute directions and encouragement we made our way out of the hotel to get screened by TSA before boarding our bus to Stewart International Airport.  This process was rather quick and then we left on the bus for the hour trek north.  Upon arriving at Stewart we proceeded to the air carrier accommodating us and moved out onto the tarmac.  We boarded G-FORCE ONE and got set up for the flight.  We had a safety briefing once onboard and then the flight began.  We took off from Stewart and flew out to the dedicated airspace, which was somewhere over the Atlantic south of Long Island.

See the flight track.

Once we arrived in our airspace the fun began.  We performed 5 parabolas before the first straight and level (Martian 1, Lunar 1, Lunar 2, Zero 1, Zero 2).  What an amazing feeling it was to experience all that and 1.8Gs as well!  Then we performed 10 more zero-gravity parabolas.  It got better each and every time we got to experience many cool experiments and tricks.  Whether trying to devour floating M&M’s out of mid-air with our mouths, trying the same with amazing water globules or the amazing acrobatics that put olympic gymnasts to shame it was truly an experience of a lifetime.  Sadly, it was over all too quickly (for me anyhow) and we cleaned up all our experiments and made our way to out seats to return to Stewart.  Then on the ground we took some group pics and boarded the bus for our return to Greenwich.  After a good meal and nice ceremony we went our separate ways with smiles that could not be wiped off our faces!  What a day!  I will do my best to recap in much more detail tomorrow.

Thanks Northrop Grumman and Zero-G for a day that I will never forget!!!

Zero-g: How?

One of the biggest questions I have been asked is: “How is the zero-g experience created?”  This post will seek to answer that question.

First, let me introduce you to the plane that makes it possible: G-FORCE ONE!

Photo courtesy of Zero-G Corp.

G-FORCE ONE is a modified Boeing 727-200. The 727-200 is a common aircraft in many commercial fleets of today, which makes it a desireable craft to use since it is easy to get parts and most large airports can accomodate it with their existing runways. NOTE: NASA doesn’t use a 727 to train the astronauts or conduct experiments, but the next section explains the process, which is similar regardless of aircraft type.

Parabolic Flight

The zero-g or weightless environment on G-FORCE ONE is created using parabolic flight.  The “super pilots” (specially trained) fly a series of maneuvers resembling a group of rolling hills.  The pilots perform the parabolas in a designated airspace away from other air traffic patterns and populated areas.  The FAA assigns this airspace, which is usually over the open water or ocean.  (NOTE: This is to avoid many calls to emergency call centers and air traffic controllers.  This was learned the hard way during early testing before the Zero-G Corporation was awarded the proper designations to perform these flights commercially.)

During the first 20 seconds of the maneuver, the plane pulls up to approximately 50° “nose high.”  Next the plane is pushed “over the top” to create a zero-gravity portion of the parabola.  This weightless period lasts between 25-30 seconds.  Everything that isn’t braced or tied down, including the flyers (passengers) is floating around.  At approximately 45° “nose low,” the pilots gently begin to pull out of the parabola as flyers stabilize on the aircraft floor.  The maneuver is repeated and as the plane begins to pull up again the g-force increases to 1.8Gs or nearly double the earth’s gravity. This means at this point you would feel as though you weigh nearly double what you weigh now. The flyers experience 12-15 parabolas which amounts to nearly 6 minutes of weightlessness!