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Weightless: Zero-gravity simulation flight |
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Written by Seth Borenstein, asap
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Wednesday, 18 October 2006 |
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 As I dreamed at night, I floated free of gravity, arms out like Superman with nothing but air underneath me. I was flying.
This wasn’t just some dream about freedom. I was reliving a real-life wild ride through the wonders of weightlessness — experiencing a feeling I can’t quite recapture while awake. It is a feeling of freedom from limits — a feeling that, after it was quickly over, went right to my gut, my emotional center, but wouldn’t stick around in my conscious mind for easy recall.
CAPTURING THE FEELING
For more than 12 years I’ve talked with astronauts about the feeling of zero gravity, wanting to know what it was like. They tried to explain it, but often said it was too hard to describe. I figured it was because they were geeks or jocks who weren’t in touch with their emotions or language centers.
So when I got to fly on a Zero Gravity Corp. Boeing 727 decked out with a padded weightless play area, my big concern was keeping my breakfast down, not capturing that feeling forever.
Hours later I was asked how it felt. I closed my eyes and tried to summon the feeling: Nothing. I couldn’t feel it again. That brought me down to Earth far harder than the plane’s climbs, which pushed down at me with 1.8 times the normal weight of gravity.
HOW IT WORKS
After flying for 40 minutes out to the ocean where no one else is, we all got out of our seats. The plane climbed another 8,000 feet, close to straight up, pushing us down to the padded floor — though far gentler than the roller coasters at most theme parks. It lasted about 25 seconds.
Then came the fun.
The plane pointed down and we headed up, floating in zero gravity. The smallest action sends you spinning, soaring, flipping and bumping. The sound is not what you’d expect. It’s giggling laughter. And this is from high school and middle school science and math teachers.
After about 20 seconds we were warned to get our butts and feet aimed to the floor because gravity was about to return, big time.
We got 16 of these up-and-down trips — “parabolas,” they call them.
ZERO GRAVITY FOR THE PEOPLE?
Zero-gravity flights are becoming much more common — at least three companies sell rides on special planes that give passengers moments of zero gravity. It costs $3,750, which comes to about $50,000 per hour of zero gravity.
At Zero Gravity Corp., you have to be 12 to fly with an adult guardian, 15 to fly alone. If you’ve got the bucks, you can do it.
And even if you don’t, sometimes there are ways to fly if you’ve got a good idea. Northrop Grumman Corporation flew more than 250 teachers to help them teach science to students, through the company’s Flights of Discovery program.
Now NASA wants to take college students up. Students wanting to go have to compete — they get to propose experiments online.
FEELING GREEN
On my flight, we were only supposed to get 15 parabolas.
But Matt Reyes, the flight operations director, says, “You guys are getting one more bonus.”
For the past five floats, I’ve gotten slightly more nauseous. I’m sweating profusely. Reyes is watching me carefully, giving me a thumbs up.
“Last zero parabola,” I said, sounding drunk. I play Superman yet again and fly one last time, until my dreams.
Seth Borenstein is an AP science writer based on solid ground in Washington, D.C. | Only registered users can write comments.
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