Ride the Vomit Comet

Stranger4U writes "NASA and the Texas Space Grant Consortium have this program which gives undergraduate college students a chance to design a zero-g experiment and then fly it on their special KC-135 "Vomit Comet." The Vomit Comet is flown in thirty parabolic loops, each loop having a thirty-second period of near zero gravity."

Re:Parabolic loop?

[Chmarr]

Nope... high school physics again.

As soon as you stop trying to accellerate, and let the gravity of the earth start pulling you back, you're in effective 0g. The fun part is, you can still be going UP at the time, but you'll start decelerating, stop, then start accellerating towards the earth again. All in perceived 0g.

So, excluding funky dynamics due to the bird they're flying, the 0g portions are the UPPER parts of those arcs, ie. from the middle to the top and back to the middle again, all the lower parts are your 2g stuff.

one more thing

[boarder]

I forgot to add that NASA has been running this program twice a year for 4 years now. I'm kinda suprised it is just now hitting /.

Also, I've been on national TV twice because of the program (Good Morning America and NBC morning news special about John Glenn's Shuttle flight), and have had dinner with a few astronauts during the trips there.

Re:Parabolic loop?

[bluelip]

I believe the 0g they are talking about is during the descent, not the trough or apex.

Re:Parabolic loop?

[jellisky]

Well, actually, it wasn't meant to be a nitpick, but I suppose it was, in a way. :)
(My mind just couldn't comprehend the idea of a parabolic loop, and I'm one who works entirely in pseudo-abstract mathematics...)

Thanks also for the link... My mechanical physics was a bit rusty and I was having trouble figuring out the zero-g parts... Now, if we were to work in fluid dynamics, that I could handle better... :)

-Jellisky

Oh, yeah... THAT guy.

[boarder]

Yeah, for a few weeks afterward I (and most of my fellow fliers) was "that guy." It was just so damned cool. Now we only mention it when people ask what cool things we've done or if someone is getting ready to make their own flight on it, etc.

As for him relating it to a challenge at work, well, 90% of the kids flying were just doing their professor's research and only wanted to fly for fun. The only work challenge I can think of that I would apply from my experience is how to schmooze the higher ups without sounding like a schmooze. I also got a lot of public speaking experience for the educational outreach stuff we had to do (going to elementary and Jr. Highs and getting the kids interested in space stuff).

Parabolic loop?

[jellisky]

I'm confused by the whole concept of a parabolic loop... :) Just doesn't make sense to the mathematician in me... If I recall something similar that I had caught on TV about this, the path would be more like (excuse the ASCII art):
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

where each of the downs are the zero-g portions of the trip...

Does anyone else recall a TV program in the USA about something similar to this, because it sounds VERY familiar to me...

Oh, me first

[milgram]

Thanks, I will stick to the normal hassle of I-95.

Re:Parabolic loop?

[joto]

Well, if you feel like you must nitpick, you should probably be aware of that it is tops that are the zero g portions of the trip. The bottoms would have more g, of course...

Anyway, you are correct in pointing out that Stranger4U got it wrong, it should really be parabolic arcs, not loops. You can view the details here [nasa.gov], although it should be pretty obvious for anyone who have a grasp of high-school physics.

I've flown it TWICE

[boarder]

Well, since this isn't on the front page (yet), I guess I can get in and post my personal experiences on this early.

I've flown the KC-135 (aka "weightless wonder", "vomit comet", "zero-g bird", etc. [NASA hates the term vomit comet]) twice with this program by the Texas Space Grant Consortium and NASA. It is a great opportunity to get design/build/test experience, national media exposure, and have a fun time on the ride (there's some scientific merit, too). The program was run very well and it has helped me to get jobs and other research. It was also a lot of fun.

If you've never been weightless before, it's awesome. You get about 23 seconds per parabola and then a 2-g pull up that is almost more interesting than the weightlessness. During the weightless section, objects will float around (screws, paper, people) and then they fall to the ground hard when the 2-g pullout starts. Water is also very interesting; when the 2-g section hits, it is almost like it is raining if someone spills water from the drinks or experiments. They can also do flight routines that simulate Moon and Mars gravity. Playing football on the Moon gravity was pretty cool.

I personally never got sick during the first trip up (while a friend of mine threw up 33 times... literally). It felt completely natural to me. On the second flight I got sick one time after we had already landed and were taxiing in. I was sick that morning before the flight and for the next couple days so I think I just had the flu.

The 2-g section is pretty cool, too. You can do push ups and situps (extremely difficult), or look like an idiot by trying to jump up and down but only getting a 3 inch vertical.

If you're an undergrad and an engineer or science major, you should look into it; even if you don't want to fly, but just to get some research in zero-g. You do have to pass a physical exam and go through physiological training at NASA (hyperbaric champers, etc), though.