The Weightless Flights of Discovery program is a headline stealer. It gets a lot of news coverage, especially with a major push for the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) fields today. Here is some of the recent print and television coverage of our WFOD.
Teachers Defy Gravity to Gain Students’ Interest
Click here to read the full article.
I just received an email from one of the teachers on my WFOD telling us the video is up! I wish I could embed it directly into this post, but it isn’t allowed. Here are the links to the three videos! I was part of the “gold team,” hence those gold socks! Pop some popcorn and enjoy these shorts (short videos for those who don’t know that term).
Thanks again to Northrop Grumman for making this experience possible. Watching these videos brings back that day and all the great memories!
I wanted to share some of the official photos from the flight with you. These photos capture the experience we all had on the weightless flight. I hope you enjoy them. All photos are copyright of Steve Boxall.
This picture shows the first people to board G-Force One on that lovely day. If you look closely, do you see who is first in line? – That is right! It’s me Mr. B!
After boarding G-Force One, we found our seats and prepared for takeoff. We had to have the standard (with some comical, attention-grabbing acting) safety briefing, as found on any commercial flight. The flight shortly after takeoff was quite rough due to weather, but we managed well enough. Once we reached our cruising altitude, the coaches then began to setup our experiments. They collected all of our shoes first though! Then we were allowed out of our seats and posed for the group picture seen below. This was taken somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean.
Next, came the frantic setup of experiments and even some baseline experimentation. My team sets up the mass vs. weight experiment in the photo below. Note: I will describe the experiment in more detail when I post the video of it in action.
Time quickly evaporated and we had to get into position to start the parabolas. The best part is just about to begin. The first set of parabolas (five in total) would be Martian 1, Lunar 1, Lunar 2, Zero 1 and finally Zero 2. That was quite a trip from Mars to the Moon twice and then on into zero-gravity, but it only took approximately 6-7 minutes to perform. G-Force One is fast!
The photo above shows us prepared to experience the 1.8 Gs on the way into the first parabola. We are looking up at the ceiling and focussing on one small point to limit the effects on our bodies. Get ready for Martian 1!
Martian Gravity is fun because you can do some very easy pushups! The gravity on Mars is 1/3 of the Earth’s Gravity. How much would you weigh on Mars?
One of the cool freebies we received as part of this great program is a DVD entitled “Inspire Me!” Below is a preview of the video. The premise of the whole movie is following a dozen teachers before, during and after their WFOD experience. There are also cool interviews with Story Musgrave.
I tracked down this classic James Burke video clip showing some earlier days of weightless or zero-g flights. The method remains the same, but the conditions are nicer and you don’t need a leisure suit (sorry to those of you who don’t know James Burke for his ’70′s attire. I think this video is from days of Apollo.)
I found these patch designs from other teachers who decided to share them. Hopefully they will provide you some inspiration.
Hello everyone! I am fortunate enough to experience the same weightlessness that astronauts do in space later this month. Let me explain just how this all came about.
First, sometime last May I received an email explaining a program called “Weightless Flights of Discovery” and I was intrigued. After doing a little bit of research about the program, I thought: “Where do I sign up?” I applied to be a part of this program and few weeks later I received an email welcoming me to the program. Of course, I was stoked, but a lot had to be done as the program has four phases.
Phase I (Content Workshops) – We were to enroll in and complete an online professional development course through the National Science Teachers Association – Learning Center. This course (Force & Motion) took approximately ten hours to complete. It covered very familiar information, but even as a teacher there was still much new material to digest. It was enlightening and I developed a deeper understanding of many of the concepts I teach in class, such as net force, etc.
Phase II (Experiment Workshop) - We gathered at the Northrop Grumman facility in Norwalk last Saturday. This was a full-day of learning about the program: What it does? Why does Northrop Grumman do this? How is the zero-gravity experience created? What experiments can we do take this experiment back into the classroom? After checking in, we were fitted for a flight suit (which we get to keep!), had our picture taken and met the other teachers (29 other math/science teachers from Maine to New Jersey) who are particpating in this program. We answered the questions above and even more during the day. We also formed smaller teams (3-4 teachers) and began to develop ideas for our on-board experiments. I will fill you in on more of the details in the days to come.
Phase III (Zero-G Flight) – The best part by far! I am looking forward to 29 September 2009 as that is our flight day! I know I will be transformed into the child that lives inside me, but doesn’t get out as often as it needs to. We will be recording our experiments and the whole experience so we can share with our students and other teachers.
Phase IV (Inspire Others) – The most important part! We get to share all our first-hand experience, photos and video with our students and other teachers. Hopefully, students will be inspired to pursue careers in science, technology and/or math and have many unique experiences like this one!
Again, much more is to come!
