Friday, 26 June 2009

• Experiencing Weightlessness on Earth: Would You Do it?

  
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  Have you ever wished you could experience total weightlessness?  You know, the weightlessness you’d feel if you flew into space? The kind you probably thought you could never, ever have?
  
  Well, according to experiencezerog.com, if you’ve got $4,000 to spend, there is actually a way on Earth you can experience weightlessness.  The Zero Gravity Corporation, or Zero G, offers adventure-seekers “weightless flights” aboard a Boeing 727-200.  These weightless flights are named such because for up to thirty seconds at a time, passengers can experience zero gravity and thus become completely weightlessness.
  
  Weightless flights, also known as parabolic flights, are not simulated.  About 32,000 feet above the ground, trained pilots fly what are called “parabolic maneuvers” to allow passengers to experience the same weightlessness astronauts feel in space.  During these maneuvers, pilots steer the plane into a parabola lasting about one minute. For about thirty seconds during these parabolas, the plane is weightless.
  
  During weightlessness, passengers are free to roam about.  You can jump up and tap the ceiling, turn a somersault mid-air or pop a water balloon and watch the water float.
  
  Each flight lasts about 90 to 100 minutes.  During this time, passengers experience 15 parabolas lasting 30 seconds each.
  
  

  
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  A Parabolic Maneuver
  

  
  To learn more about Zero G and weightless flights, click here.
  
  Would you ever want to experience a weightless flight? I know that if I had $4,000 to spend freely, I would probably do it.
  
  

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