If you truly want to know what microgravity feels like, you can take a ride on a plane nicknamed the “Vomit Comet.” Passengers on these parabolic flights experience periodic moments of weightlessness - between 20 to 30 seconds at a time - simulating what it feels like to float around the International Space Station.
In the season finale of Space Craft, we booked a flight with the Zero Gravity Corporation, one of a handful of organizations in the world that currently offers parabolic flight experiences. Its main asset is a hollowed-out Boeing 727 that has been modified to better accommodate the unique flight trajectory needed for zero gravity flight.
The way the flight works is fairly simple: the plane flies in a series of parabolas, or peaks and valleys. Initially, the aircraft pulls up and increases thrust at a 45-degree angle. During this portion of the flight, passengers actually feel extra gravity - around 1.8 Gs. Then, the plane reduces thrust and lowers its nose, just before reaching the top of the peak. It’s at this moment that the plane, and everyone inside, shift into free fall. So in reality, you’re not floating so much as falling, like a skydiver surrounded by a plane. After half a minute, the plane then starts to pull up again and the process is repeated.
NASA has long used parabolic flights to help train astronauts for trips to space. The planes are also helpful for researchers that want to better understand how new technologies might behave in a weightless environment. For instance, scientists working on a new gripping robot to remove space trash were able to test out their prototype on a parabolic flight, finding that it worked just as well - if not better - in zero gravity.
But apart from being used for research, parabolic flight is also a great way for people not involved in aerospace to experience what it feels like to be outside the bonds of Earth’s gravity - albeit briefly. It was an experience I’ll certainly never forget, and as you’ll see in the video above, I made my delight known.
In the season finale of Space Craft, we booked a flight with the Zero Gravity Corporation, one of a handful of organizations in the world that currently offers parabolic flight experiences. Its main asset is a hollowed-out Boeing 727 that has been modified to better accommodate the unique flight trajectory needed for zero gravity flight.
The way the flight works is fairly simple: the plane flies in a series of parabolas, or peaks and valleys. Initially, the aircraft pulls up and increases thrust at a 45-degree angle. During this portion of the flight, passengers actually feel extra gravity - around 1.8 Gs. Then, the plane reduces thrust and lowers its nose, just before reaching the top of the peak. It’s at this moment that the plane, and everyone inside, shift into free fall. So in reality, you’re not floating so much as falling, like a skydiver surrounded by a plane. After half a minute, the plane then starts to pull up again and the process is repeated.
NASA has long used parabolic flights to help train astronauts for trips to space. The planes are also helpful for researchers that want to better understand how new technologies might behave in a weightless environment. For instance, scientists working on a new gripping robot to remove space trash were able to test out their prototype on a parabolic flight, finding that it worked just as well - if not better - in zero gravity.
But apart from being used for research, parabolic flight is also a great way for people not involved in aerospace to experience what it feels like to be outside the bonds of Earth’s gravity - albeit briefly. It was an experience I’ll certainly never forget, and as you’ll see in the video above, I made my delight known.