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NASA Offering Free Zero Gravity Flights

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the compete-for-the-vomit-comet dept.

An anonymous reader writes to tell us that NASA is offering free zero-g flight time for anyone with a viable proposal for emerging space technologies. While NASA will provide the flight time, approved projects will be responsible for all other expenses. "NASA's Facilitated Access to the Space Environment for Technology Development and Training, or FAST, program helps emerging technologies mature through testing in a reduced gravity environment. To prepare technologies for space applications, it is important to demonstrate they work in a zero-gravity environment. This unique testing environment can be provided in an aircraft flying repeated parabolic trajectories which create brief periods of zero gravity. The aircraft also can simulate reduced-gravity levels similar to those found on the surface of the moon or Mars."

3 of 52 comments (clear)

  1. Fights? by HetMes · · Score: 5, Funny

    Immediately, Chinese action movie images went through my head. But alas, no Crouching Tiger in space just yet. Would be cool, though, Zero-G Fights.

    1. Re:Fights? by MichaelSmith · · Score: 5, Informative

      This unique testing environment can be provided in an aircraft flying repeated parabolic trajectories which create brief periods of zero gravity.

      Speaking of mental images, I cracked up imagining them trying to choreograph a fight sequence in such a parabolic flight: What happens as gravity returns and they are still floating in the air?

      Exactly the same thing as when gravity is there all the time.

      --
      http://michaelsmith.id.au
  2. Quite a generous offer by gmueckl · · Score: 5, Informative

    We are participating in one of ESA's scientific parbolic flight campaigns and I therefore had the chance to get some insight about the costs involved. The participation fee alone is about 60.000 Euros and more than twice the costs we had for building the experiments. For this we get 90 parabolas with 20 seconds of microgravity for experimenting.

    Assuming that the cost structure for NASA's campaign participants is similar, NASA's offer to let these teams participate for free seems to be quite generous. Is there anyone here with more details?

    --
    http://www.moonlight3d.eu/