Weightless Flights of Discovery feature for Space Times magazine
This article first appeared in the March/April 2009 issue of Space Times magazine, the official publication of the American Astronautical Society. Photos included.
The text below contains minor edits from the published version.
PHOTOS BELOW (courtesy of the Northrop Grumman Foundation).
Weightless Flights of Discovery
The Northrop Grumman Foundation continues its program to provide teachers with a remarkable experience to help inspire students in the field of science.
by Jeff Elbel
On October 21, 2008, fifty-five teachers met at Chicago’s O’Hare airport for the ride of a lifetime. The guests of honor represented schools from a dozen states. All had been selected to participate in the Northrop Grumman Foundation’s Weightless Flights of Discovery program, which allows middle school instructors to test Newton’s Laws of Motion in zero gravity and micro-gravity aboard a chartered Zero-G Corporation flight. The Foundation’s goal is to energize students toward math and science during critical years or learning.
During the weeks prior to the flight, teachers worked with their students to develop experiments to be conducted in the weightless environment. Patricia Green from Orchard View Middle School in Muskeegan, Michigan made a special addition to her blue flight suit, because her students wanted to know how Superman’s famous red cape would behave in space. One student signed his name to Ms. Green’s cape with the encouraging note, “Don’t die, come back.”
Youthful sarcasm notwithstanding, Ms. Green’s student needn’t have worried. Before the flight’s weightless passes began, Flight Specialist Chace Johnson announced, “You’ll see all of us become five year olds in about ten minutes.” Throughout the flight, the sounds of laughter drowned out the noise of the modified Boeing 727’s engines.
During the first several instances of zero gravity, Johnson’s prediction proved wholly true. The excitement in the cabin exceeded that of most kindergarten recess periods, as up became down and bodies drifted into each other. When the flight directors called, “Feet down, coming out,” participants were trained to reorient and prepare for the next pass. When traversing the bottom of the aircraft’s gravity-altering parabolic maneuvers, the sensation of nearly double earth’s gravitational pull could be felt as participants’ bodies were pressed into the padded cabin floor.
The flight spent about an hour over Wisconsin and Lake Superior, making fifteen parabolic maneuvers. Each pass provided roughly thirty seconds of reduced gravity at the top of the parabolic arc. Participants were eased into the experience by being first introduced to Martian gravity. The teachers were encouraged to do push-ups in order to experience the difference at a third of Earth’s gravity. Next were two parabolas simulating lunar gravity at a sixth of Earth’s gravitational force. The teachers relished this experience, imagining themselves as Neil Armstrong or Buzz Aldrin, bounding over a barren moonscape.
After enjoying several maneuvers focused on the thrill of the weightless experience, the teachers conducted experiments demonstrating concepts such as the difference between weight and mass, or studying blood pressure under weightless conditions. Teachers tossed each other through hula hoops. Chicago teacher Michael Johnson brought a small basketball and hoop to demonstrate the difficulty of arching a ball into the net without the pull of gravity. Fortunately, zero gravity allowed him to more easily demonstrate the Michael Jordan-styled slam dunk.
Another teacher brought a Newton’s Cradle. The popular executive toy has been used to debunk conspiracy theorists who claim that the lunar landing was staged. Before flying, the teacher had filmed herself at regular Earth gravity while explaining Newton’s third law, with the cradle clacking beside her. She repeated the exercise during a parabola simulating lunar gravity, with the cradle moving dramatically slower as she spoke. “There are plenty of kids today who believe we didn’t go to the moon,” Flight Specialist Johnson said. “They think that images of astronauts bounding across the moon in slow motion could have been easily faked. [This] simple experiment goes a long way toward demonstrating the physics involved.”
Although a couple of participants struggled with motion sickness (they don’t call it the “Vomit Comet” for nothing), almost everyone who participated agreed that the only thing that could top the Zero-G experience would be to do it twice.
The Northrop Grumman Foundation has scheduled four new opportunities for teachers to experience weightlessness, beginning with a flight from Albuquerque, New Mexico on September 22nd. For more information, visit the Foundation's Weightless Flights of Discovery website. Non-teaching civilians can book their own weightless flights with the Zero G Corporation for a ticket price of roughly $5200. Visit gozerog.com for further information.
ABOVE: Teacher/aeronaut Laura Anderson.
ABOVE (L-R): Patricia Green, Lois Bakken, Pamela Greyer
ABOVE: Connie Vaught is tossed through a hula hoop by fellow teachers.
ABOVE: Jeff Elbel of Space Times magazine.
The text below contains minor edits from the published version.
PHOTOS BELOW (courtesy of the Northrop Grumman Foundation).
Weightless Flights of Discovery
The Northrop Grumman Foundation continues its program to provide teachers with a remarkable experience to help inspire students in the field of science.
by Jeff Elbel
On October 21, 2008, fifty-five teachers met at Chicago’s O’Hare airport for the ride of a lifetime. The guests of honor represented schools from a dozen states. All had been selected to participate in the Northrop Grumman Foundation’s Weightless Flights of Discovery program, which allows middle school instructors to test Newton’s Laws of Motion in zero gravity and micro-gravity aboard a chartered Zero-G Corporation flight. The Foundation’s goal is to energize students toward math and science during critical years or learning.
During the weeks prior to the flight, teachers worked with their students to develop experiments to be conducted in the weightless environment. Patricia Green from Orchard View Middle School in Muskeegan, Michigan made a special addition to her blue flight suit, because her students wanted to know how Superman’s famous red cape would behave in space. One student signed his name to Ms. Green’s cape with the encouraging note, “Don’t die, come back.”
Youthful sarcasm notwithstanding, Ms. Green’s student needn’t have worried. Before the flight’s weightless passes began, Flight Specialist Chace Johnson announced, “You’ll see all of us become five year olds in about ten minutes.” Throughout the flight, the sounds of laughter drowned out the noise of the modified Boeing 727’s engines.
During the first several instances of zero gravity, Johnson’s prediction proved wholly true. The excitement in the cabin exceeded that of most kindergarten recess periods, as up became down and bodies drifted into each other. When the flight directors called, “Feet down, coming out,” participants were trained to reorient and prepare for the next pass. When traversing the bottom of the aircraft’s gravity-altering parabolic maneuvers, the sensation of nearly double earth’s gravitational pull could be felt as participants’ bodies were pressed into the padded cabin floor.
The flight spent about an hour over Wisconsin and Lake Superior, making fifteen parabolic maneuvers. Each pass provided roughly thirty seconds of reduced gravity at the top of the parabolic arc. Participants were eased into the experience by being first introduced to Martian gravity. The teachers were encouraged to do push-ups in order to experience the difference at a third of Earth’s gravity. Next were two parabolas simulating lunar gravity at a sixth of Earth’s gravitational force. The teachers relished this experience, imagining themselves as Neil Armstrong or Buzz Aldrin, bounding over a barren moonscape.
After enjoying several maneuvers focused on the thrill of the weightless experience, the teachers conducted experiments demonstrating concepts such as the difference between weight and mass, or studying blood pressure under weightless conditions. Teachers tossed each other through hula hoops. Chicago teacher Michael Johnson brought a small basketball and hoop to demonstrate the difficulty of arching a ball into the net without the pull of gravity. Fortunately, zero gravity allowed him to more easily demonstrate the Michael Jordan-styled slam dunk.
Another teacher brought a Newton’s Cradle. The popular executive toy has been used to debunk conspiracy theorists who claim that the lunar landing was staged. Before flying, the teacher had filmed herself at regular Earth gravity while explaining Newton’s third law, with the cradle clacking beside her. She repeated the exercise during a parabola simulating lunar gravity, with the cradle moving dramatically slower as she spoke. “There are plenty of kids today who believe we didn’t go to the moon,” Flight Specialist Johnson said. “They think that images of astronauts bounding across the moon in slow motion could have been easily faked. [This] simple experiment goes a long way toward demonstrating the physics involved.”
Although a couple of participants struggled with motion sickness (they don’t call it the “Vomit Comet” for nothing), almost everyone who participated agreed that the only thing that could top the Zero-G experience would be to do it twice.
The Northrop Grumman Foundation has scheduled four new opportunities for teachers to experience weightlessness, beginning with a flight from Albuquerque, New Mexico on September 22nd. For more information, visit the Foundation's Weightless Flights of Discovery website. Non-teaching civilians can book their own weightless flights with the Zero G Corporation for a ticket price of roughly $5200. Visit gozerog.com for further information.
ABOVE: Teacher/aeronaut Laura Anderson.
ABOVE (L-R): Patricia Green, Lois Bakken, Pamela Greyer
ABOVE: Connie Vaught is tossed through a hula hoop by fellow teachers.
ABOVE: Jeff Elbel of Space Times magazine.