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NASA Retires Vomit Comet

Posted by michael on from the upchuck dept.

Mr. Christmas Lights writes "NASA just retired the last of the KC-135 'vomit comets' which were used for reduced (and zero-g) gravity research by flying a parabolic trajectory for about 25 seconds of Zero-G. Two of these planes (originally Air Force aerial tankers) were used with the first one being retired in 2000. /. readers will be happy to know that among the various achievements was 'at least 285 gallons of vomit' .. although unknown how much when it was used for filming the Apollo 13 movie. NASA is replacing the KC-135's with a DC-9. There is some personal significance for me in that my father flew this airplane in the 1970's for the (real) Apollo astronauts ... he commented that maintaining the Zero-G profile was accomplished not by using the sensitive G-Meter, but by hanging a nut from a string in the cockpit ... if it drops, push forward, if it raises, pull back - simple but effective. There is a recent commercial offering in this area where for a measly $3,000, you can go for a ride in Gravity One ."

2 of 42 comments (clear)

  1. Re:The VC's most important contribution... by Captain+Splendid · · Score: 2, Informative
    As the above poster says, I'm skeptical a porn scene was shot on the 'Comet, no matter what IMDB says.

    Even if the military had supplied the equipment and personel, Porn economics dictates that it would be too expensive. The Porn industry could make a few hundred thousand features for the price of one brief spell of zero gravity.

    --
    Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
  2. NASA's been using that DC-9 since 1995. by Animats · · Score: 2, Informative
    Talk about old news.

    A much bigger deal was the retirement, last August, of the Dash-80. The Dash-80, the original KC-135/Boeing 707 prototype, first flew in 1954. It was used for many test programs therafter, flying until 2003. This was the prototype of the first really successful jetliner.

    (The DeHavilland Comet flew years before the Dash-80, but the underpowered Comet had metal fatigue problems and all were grounded after several crashes. The Tupolev Tu-104 was a civilian version of the Badger bomber, braking chutes and all. The Dash-80/707/KC-135 was the first commercial transport that really worked.)