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\nThe refitted Airbus A310 aircraft is on the runway and ready for its first flight for weightless research next week. Although the aircraft can weigh up to 157 tonnes, skilled pilots will angle its nose 50\u00b0 upwards to create brief periods of weightlessness. At the top of each curve, the forces on the passengers and objects inside cancel each other out, causing everything to float in weightlessness.\n<\/p>\n
\nDuring the climb and pulling out of the descent, the occupants endure almost twice normal gravity. A person weighing 80 kg on Earth will feel as if they weighed 160 kg for around 20 seconds.\n<\/p>\n
\nConducting hands-on experiments in weightlessness and hypergravity is enticing for researchers in fields as varied as biology, physics, medicine and applied sciences.\n<\/p>\n
\nFrench company Novespace has conducted these \u2018parabolic flights\u2019 for more than 25 years. Last year they acquired a new aircraft to replace their trusty Airbus A300. Most seats were removed to provide as much space as possible inside, while padded walls provide a soft landing for the researchers \u2013 the changes in \u2018gravity\u2019 can be hard to handle. Extra monitoring stations have been installed for a technician to monitor the aircraft system\u2019s as it is pushed to its limits \u2013 this is no transatlantic cruise.\n<\/p>\n
\nThe inaugural scientific campaign will start on 5 May, a collaboration between Novespace\u2019s three main research partners: ESA, France\u2019s CNES space agency and the DLR German Aerospace Center.\n<\/p>\n
\nExperiments include<\/a> understanding how humans sense objects under different gravity levels, investigating how the human heart and aorta cope, looking at how plants grow<\/a>, testing new equipment for the International Space Station, trying out new techniques for launching nanosatellites, investigating whether pharmaceutical drugs will work without \u2018gravity\u2019, understanding Solar System dust clouds and planet formation as well as investigating potential propulsion for martian aircraft.\n<\/p>\n \nIf you want to know more about these experiments and the parabolic flights, join us on Wednesday 6 May at 13:00 GMT (15:00 CEST) for a live ESA hangout<\/a> with the researchers and space agency experts. Ask questions live in chat or via Twitter with hashtag #ZeroGhangout.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \t\t\t\t\t \nThe refitted Airbus A310 aircraft is on the runway and ready for its first flight for weightless research next week. Although the aircraft can weigh up to 157 tonnes, skilled pilots will angle its nose 50\u00b0 upwards to create brief periods of weightlessness. At the top of each curve, the forces on the passengers and objects inside cancel each other out, causing everything to float in weightlessness.\n<\/p>\n \nDuring the climb and pulling out of the descent, the occupants endure almost twice normal gravity. A person weighing 80 kg on Earth will feel as if they weighed 160 kg for around 20 seconds.\n<\/p>\n \nConducting hands-on experiments in weightlessness and hypergravity is enticing for researchers in fields as varied as biology, physics, medicine and applied sciences.\n<\/p>\n \nFrench company Novespace has conducted these \u2018parabolic flights\u2019 for more than 25 years. Last year they acquired a new aircraft to replace their trusty Airbus A300. Most seats were removed to provide as much space as possible inside, while padded walls provide a soft landing for the researchers \u2013 the changes in \u2018gravity\u2019 can be hard to handle. Extra monitoring stations have been installed for a technician to monitor the aircraft system\u2019s as it is pushed to its limits \u2013 this is no transatlantic cruise.\n<\/p>\n \nThe inaugural scientific campaign will start on 5 May, a collaboration between Novespace\u2019s three main research partners: ESA, France\u2019s CNES space agency and the DLR German Aerospace Center.\n<\/p>\n \nExperiments include<\/a> understanding how humans sense objects under different gravity levels, investigating how the human heart and aorta cope, looking at how plants grow<\/a>, testing new equipment for the International Space Station, trying out new techniques for launching nanosatellites, investigating whether pharmaceutical drugs will work without \u2018gravity\u2019, understanding Solar System dust clouds and planet formation as well as investigating potential propulsion for martian aircraft.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n