Zero+g+Flight



As part of the amazing DOE ACTS* program that I am in, I flew on the "Weightless Wonder" on August 4, 2010. Most people call it the "Vomit Comet", but NASA prefers that we call it the "Weightless Wonder"! Six teachers and two PPPL employees traveled to Houston to perform an experiment on the flight. We called ourselves "Team Groovy" since our experiment involved a glitter lamp and plasma ball!

Here's how it works: The plane flies a series of parabolas. Before starting a parabola, G-FORCE ONE flies level to the horizon at an altitude of 24,000 feet. The pilots then begins to pull up, gradually increasing the angle of the aircraft to about 45° to the horizon reaching an altitude of 34,000 feet. During this pull-up, passengers will feel the pull of 1.8 Gs. Next the plane is “pushed over” to create the zero gravity segment of the parabola. For the next 20-30 seconds everything in the plane is weightless. Next a gentle pull-out is started which allows the flyers to stabilize on the aircraft floor.

We completed 32 parabolas above the of the Gulf of Mexico. It was sooooo cool! It never feels like the plane is pointing up or down, the force is always normal to the floor. During the hyper g portions (bottom of parabolas), I laid on the floor. THAT is the part where a lot of people get motion sickness --- but I was fine. During the zero g part, I mostly held on to the rope on the side while laughing and floating! media type="file" key="TarmanZeroG.m4v" width="300" height="300"

Our Experiment:

We didn't just go for fun, we did an experiment that tested the effects of weightlessness on convection. (more to come....)


 * Dept of Energy's Academy Creating Teacher Scientists (ACTS) program is a 3 year program where I spend 6-7 weeks each summer working at a National Lab. I am at the Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. As part of the program they provide grant $ for me to attend a professional conference each school year and buy equipment for my classroom. Last year I got $2000 worth of Electricity and Magnetism supplies & demos including a new Van de Graaff generator. This year I might go for video cameras!