The facility is currently used by NASA funded researchers from around the world to study the effects of microgravity on physical phenomena such as combustion and fluid physics, to develop and demonstrate new technology for future space missions, and to develop and test experiment hardware designed for flight aboard the International Space Station or future spacecraft. The Zero-G facility provides researchers with a near weightless or microgravity environment for a duration of 5.
Microgravity, which is the condition of relative near weightlessness, can only be achieved on Earth by putting an object in a state of free fall. NASA conducts microgravity experiments on earth using drops towers and aircraft flying parabolic trajectories. Allowing the experiment hardware to free fall a distance of feet m creates the microgravity environment at the Zero-G facility.
The free fall is conducted inside of a foot m long steel vacuum chamber. The chamber is 20 ft 6. A 5 stage vacuum pumping process is used to reduce the pressure in the chamber to a pressure of 0. Evacuating the chamber to this pressure reduces the aerodynamic drag on the freely falling experiment vehicle to less than 0. To prepare for a drop, an overhead crane is used to position the experiment vehicle and release mechanism at the top of the vacuum chamber. Once in position, the drop vehicle is connected to the facility control room via an umbilical cable.
This cable allows the experiment to be monitored and controlled from the control room until the release sequence is initialized. Yet these steps will not be enough to protect crews on space journeys lasting much longer than a year.
A popular science fiction trope is the spinning spacecraft that creates artificial gravity via centripetal force, such as the one depicted in the movie A Space Odyssey. The logic behind this plan is sound, but to create gravity similar to that on Earth, such a spacecraft would have to be much larger than any spacefaring vehicle ever built. For now, we might as well enjoy the antigravity aspect of space travel, which is good for, among other things, some very weird yo-yo tricks.
She has a bachelor's degree in astronomy and physics from Wesleyan University and a graduate degree in science journalism from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Follow Clara Moskowitz on Twitter. Credit: Nick Higgins. Already a subscriber? Sign in. Thanks for reading Scientific American. Create your free account or Sign in to continue. See Subscription Options. An "adventure in moving!
Rather than climbing into a full sized aircraft, we use the video camera to shrink ourselves down and take a Virtual Reality ride inside the box. To generate free fall, the NASA plane flys in a parabola-shaped trajectory.
Well, imagine what would happen if the crew was inside of a box which was shot out of a huge cannon. Both the people and the box would fly along similar paths. The box would take a long, curved, up and down path, and so would the people inside.
The people inside could not see the box move, so they couldn't know they were falling, instead would think that they were weightless at least until the box struck the ground. So, if an airplane flys in exactly the same path as a fired cannonball, everyone in the plane will seem to be floating.
Stick some small toys or coins into the box. To generate momentary free fall, simply jump up and down. The objects inside the box will float for a moment. Be aware that jumping up and down with a box on your face looks really stupid.
This demo is a great excuse to convince OTHER people to jump around with boxes on their faces, while you stand back and watch the fun! If you never let the box out of your control, then you'll only have yourself to blame for any mishap.
Perhaps it would be wise to attach a hook to the ceiling, and attach the camera box to a rope to prevent accidental contact with the floor. These things are a couple inches square, and can take lots more punishment than a camcorder.
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