Posted on March - 29 - 2010
Zero-G Corp.’s airborne lab will let researchers go weightless from Memphis
Photos courtesy of Zero Gravity Corporation
Aboard G-FORCE ONE, passengers try to catch floating candy during a brief burst of weightlessness. The Zero Gravity Corp. has been offering “Space Adventures” for citizens at a cost of $4,950 and is now launching research-only flights out of Memphis.
Zero Gravity Corp. wants to give Memphis researchers a little Major Tom experience — floating in space, minus the part about losing contact with ground control.
Unlike David Bowie’s erstwhile astronaut in “Space Oddity,” participants in Zero-G Weightless Lab’s flight out of Memphis International Airport can expect refreshments and a safe return to Earth.
Courtesy of Zero Gravity Corporation
MIT researchers conduct an experiment on a ZERO-G flight.
Acrobatic maneuvers let G-FORCE ONE, a specially outfitted Boeing 727, achieve martian, lunar and zero gravity for 20- to 30-second spans.
The Vienna, Va.-based company created five years ago. People plunk down $4,950 plus tax to experience weightlessness on a specially outfitted Boeing 727. Celebrity endorsements include Martha Stewart and astrophysicist Stephen Hawking.
Now comes Zero-G Weightless Lab, dedicated to research projects such as a Massachusetts Institute of Technology effort to figure out how to dispose of weightless lab animal waste.
The first announced flights of G-FORCE ONE are July 22-23 in Fort Lauderdale and Sept. 17-18 in Memphis.
“Since this is a new program, and since (Memphis) was centrally located, we felt it would be a good opportunity for universities to conduct some advanced research and keep the costs low,” said director of education and research programs Michelle Peters.
MIT also studied how brain waves respond to different gravitational environments, Peters said.
Zero Gravity launched research-only flights in response to increasing demand from researchers for space on regular commercial flights, spokeswoman Rida Naeem said.
Research flights cost $29,950 plus 5 percent tax per section, with six sections available. Naeem wouldn’t identify customers.
The plane achieves reduced- and zero-gravity experiences by flying a series of acrobatic maneuvers starting at 25,000 feet altitude over a 1,000-square-mile swath of air space.
Passengers experience Martian gravity (one-third of Earth’s) and lunar gravity (one-sixth of Earth’s) to prepare for zero gravity, which occurs in 20- to 30-second bursts.
“The plane flies in a parabola, up and down and up and down. In the free fall in each parabola is where you experience zero gravity,” Naeem said.
–Wayne Risher: 529-2874
Zero-G Weightless Lab
What: New, research- focused offering of Zero Gravity Corp., privately held space entertainment and tourism company
When: Scheduled to fly out of Memphis on Sept. 17-18
Prices: Flight offers six sections priced at $29,950 each, plus 5 percent tax
More information: Go to gozerog.com
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