Pitt Microgravity Team

It seems I have finally found a form of transportation that I do not stomach well.  Transitioning from 1.8g’s to zero g’s was extremely disorienting.  Every time we entered the zero g portion of the parabola (plane free falling) I became more nauseous.  When I was experiencing zero g’s my perspective would shift, and, while I logically knew what I was seeing was not true, the floor and ceiling became the walls, and vice versa.  Not really a pleasant feeling.  After we completed recording data from our first set (Our flight plan was a set of 10 parabolas, a 3 min turn around at 1g, 10 more parabolas, a turn around, and then 6 parabolas, and 6 parabolas), I decided it would be best to go sit down in the rear of the plane for a few and try to adjust.  Unfortunately, I probably should have just stayed with the experiment.  Strapped down in a typical commercial airline seat in the back of the plane, when I was feeling 1.8g’s, the plane seemed to be horizontal, as you would expect.  Then when the zero g portion began, it seemed like the plane was oriented perpendicular to the sky.  In other words, all of the experiments and people in front of me looked like they were below me, in a large well, and I was hanging on not to fall in.  The Otolith Organ, located in the inner ear, detects gravity and acceleration.  There are three canals, each of which allows the body to interpret three different kinds of motion, roll, pitch, and yaw.  I could feel all three areas activating during the flight.  I can not imagine my body being more disoriented.  I tried to hold my head to stabilize, but the rapid changes from zero to 1.8 g made it quite difficult.  In the end it was a losing battle.  During the last parabola, number 32, which simulated Mars gravity, I was forced to use my motion sickness bag.

I believe either a constant 1.8g or a constant zero environment would have been fine, but I could not adapt well to the rapid change from 1.8 to zero g’s.  Still, I have no regrets.  I was glad to be up there.  We obtained needed data for our experiment, and I still had the opportunity to float around, experiencing zero g’s.

By now, many of you probably know that Jose and I successfully completed our zero gravity experience!  The flight was the culmination of almost 11 months in the making and it was absolutely worth it.  It honestly was.  I would not have changed one thing about the experience.  Once we boarded the C-9 and took off down the runway, Jose and I sat anxiously awaiting the time for us to get out of our seats.

About 10-15 minutes into the flight, we were given the opportunity to move around the cabin and configure our experiment to begin trials.  The C-9 was ascending higher and higher as we worked with our rig.  Surprisingly, it was not very difficult to move about the aircraft during its initial climb.  During this time, we strapped our bags down and Jose mounted the camera.

While it took many of the other teams a rather long time to prepare their experiments, our in-flight set-up was rather quick (thanks to the work of Adam, Mike & Jonathan who performed the pre-flight experiment preparation).  This allowed Jose and myself to relax and secure our places to experience the first parabola.  Jose sat on the left side of the cabin and I directly across from him.  I’m not sure if it was due to my excitement, but I found it pretty tough to determine when the C-9 would crest.  Just as I was trying to determine when indeed the free fall would happen, the sound of the engines lowered and time seemed to stop.  The aircraft was in its first zero-g parabola and my body experienced a sensation unlike anything readily available.  While the sensation itself is so difficult to describe, my body recognized zero-g instantly.  The closest description of zero-gravity I can give is that I subconsciously felt like I was upside-down, but my eyes were facing normal.  Just as I was grasping this new feeling, I found myself free floating to the top of the cabin.  Click! Click! Just as I reached the cabin ceiling, one of the NASA cameramen began documenting my momentous occasion by snapping a couple of pictures.  I grabbed one of the ropes which was attached to the C-9’s ceiling and hung there for another 10-15 seconds.  Then the aircraft began its pull-out and gravity began acting on us once again.  While our weights began to double, Jose and I tried to make sense of what had just happened.  As you can guess, this was rather difficult, but we both knew we enjoyed our initial zero-gravity encounter.  The first zero-g parabola set the course for the entire flight.  After utilizing the next 2 parabolas to fine tune our microgravity skills, we secured ourselves in front of our experiment and got down to work.  For approximately the next 20 parabolas, we ran our experimental trials.  Many of them went well, and yielded some interesting results.  While it was Jose and my primary job to run these trials, another objective of ours was to determine areas of improvement for Adam and Mike to incorporate into their experimental trials tomorrow. Before we knew it, it was parabola 24/30 and we were completed with our trials.  The last 6 zero-g parabolas were used for Jose and I to perform our “secondary research” (which is to determine our personal effects of zero-g).  These trials involved interactive items we brought on board, which included a slinky, a gyroscope and some stuffed animals.  When it came down to the last couple zero gravity parabolas, we both knew we had to attempt the final secondary research challenge: somersaults.  Grabbing one of the NASA employees, Jose went first.  Twirling about, he spun around many times during the 28th parabola.  On the next zero gravity encounter, it was my turn to perform somersaults.  I curled up into a ball and was spun around very much like I have seen many before me do.  This proved to be a great way to end my experience in weightlessness.  Surprisingly, I came out of the somersaults neither nauseous or disoriented, but very pleased.  Jose was even gracious enough to film the maneuver with his video camera!  To view it, click here.

The final 2 parabolas simulated lunar & martian gravities.  During the lunar parabola, Jose and I performed push-ups, which as you can certainly imagine, were much easier than normal.  For the martian parabola, everyone in the cabin began hopping around, enjoying their newly improved vertical leap.  As soon as we knew it, this one-in-a-lifetime experience ended.  After a well deserved round of applause, everyone returned to their seats for descent.  Just as soon as I put my seat belt on and looked out the window to see just how high we were in the sky, I noticed a rainbow beneath the wing of the C-9.  We flew right over the rainbow during the descent, and the sight was nothing less than spectacular.  It took us another 15 minutes to land again at Ellington Field, where we then took a group photo and had a debrief.  During the debrief, we were told by the microgravity program coordinator that our flight was one of the most enjoyable groups he had ever flown with.  We can only hope that this will be the same for Mike and Adam’s flight tomorrow.

Looking back on the entire zero-g adventure, I would not have changed a thing.  I believe Jose and I had an extremely  well-rounded weightlessness experience, ranging from us free-floating & performing somersaults to running experimental trials which yielded realistic results.  Because we had such a successful flight, I think it is safe to say that Jose and I would venture on NASA’s C-9 again in a second to chart further in the unknowns of zero-g.  As I’m writing this blog, I can recall a vivid recollection of the sensation of weightlessness.  This is a feeling I do not want to forget anytime soon.  I want to thank everyone who has supported us to make this dream a reality.  None of this would have been possible without all of you.

Today was one of the best days of my life!  It was a very exciting experience to finally be in microgravity (which we have all been anticipating for months =) ).  John and I boarded the aircraft around 9 o’ clock and takeoff was around 9:30.  We soon were allowed out of our seats and we set up our experiment quickly and prepared to experience weightlessness.  The time before the microgravity was short, but it felt like it took forever.  Below is a picture of all of us on the aircraft before boarding while setting up our experiment.

Here is John, myself, and the rest of our flight day walking into the aircraft.

Eventually, the experience we had been waiting for finally arrived and John and I floated freely in our first microgravity experience.  The feeling can really not be described, so we are putting up a couple of awesome videos!  It is mainly a quick clip of John being spun in microgravity like a champ!  We got this footage with our own hand-held DVD-corder (courtesy of Laura =) ).  We’re posting it on YouTube and will paste it here in the blog.  We also have a couple of pictures but the best is yet to come!  We are receiving in a couple of weeks the professional photos and DVD cuts of our flight week which will have the candid interpretations of all of our experiences in microgravity.

Oh by the way, needless to say I also got spun in microgravity.  Unfortunately, we did not think to dislodge the camera to get that one on tape too, but John’s gives you a pretty good idea, its a good teaser for the full DVD version!  We also did Lunar Gravity push-ups and those got videotaped as well.  We got extremely lucky because one of the camera guys was from Pittsburgh and he had one of his eyes on us the majority of the time.  It was quite the luxury and we are hoping to get some pretty good coverage for Mike and Adam’s flight as well!

As I sit here and write this blog, I feel that I am disappointing my (our) readers because I have no good words to describe this day as far as our flight goes.  I can’t really get the words to come to me, I can only say I will never forget the feeling and that it was extremely entertaining and singular.  The first feeling John and I could muster after getting off the plane was, let us go AGAIN!  So, since I can’t do the experience justice, the video will have to suffice and the pictures hopefully.

Now, let me tell you about the rest of the day.  We took some really interesting tour which included sitting in the Apollo Mission Control Center (which would have been an instant freak-out on a regular day, but this time it was medium considering the circumstances).  In any case, we got to sit at the very chairs that directed the men landing on the moon and saved others from imminent doom.  We also stood in the same room with a flag that has been on the moon, and of course, got pictures.

This is me guiding a doomed spacecraft back to Earth saving millions of dollars in bad PR.

We also saw the newer mission control rooms and they were awesome, and also a thermal vacuum chamber which we have some pictures of.  These tours were impressive and really makes a young engineer want to pick his life up and move to the Johnson Space Area for work.

Fortunately for you (and me) we have a bunch of pictures coming and videos to show all of you to accurately describe our amazing hour and a half in the air….

Oh yeahhhhhhhhh, there wassssss research, riiiiiiiiight.  No really, the research was almost the best part.  If I may say so myself, John and i conducted our tests with military-like efficiency creating and adapting plans in the moment and wasting almost no time and opportunity.  We quickly assessed any issues and were sure to record observations about the difficulties and nuances of our experiment for the benefit of Mike and Adam tomorrow who will hopefully cap off our trip with the second half of publishable results.  Naturally, John and mine’s inexperience in microgravity made the first few trials tenous and difficult, but I was amazed to see that we reacted with extreme coolness and exhibited quick decisions.  We, as everyday human beings are not generally put in situations where your decisions count with fractions of a second for error and it was a so encouraging to look back and see how well we conducted ourselves.  All the tubes produced great visual and numercial data but the last two tubes yielded the best results once we got used to the experience.  No worries, however as we have imparted all of the lessons learned to Mike and Adam as we debriefed them on our flight.  With the information we provided, we feel pretty confident that they should be able to provide excellent data for the first two tubes.  The atmosphere here is quite positive and we are all anxious for Mike and Adam’s turn tomorrow.

Not only were we the only team to acquire any real data on this flight, we also acquired useful and informative data about our research and our human factors.  We also DID NOT GET SICK…Which was pleasant.

I think we have said this already, but I also don’t think we brag enough so this might be a good time to mention that we have received commendations to members of the flight crew from structural engineers, our NASA advisor (who was very helpful and commendable himself), and today we added to that list because the Educational Officer told our flight group that we were the best (in terms of conduct) flight group that he had seen in a very long time or ever.

Tomorrow is a big day, and those for whom tomorrow is bigger, are already asleep and we will be supporting them so it is time for me to sign off.  I am sorry if this post has been a disappointment but remember they are just words, and they can never provide the experience of floating in zero gravity (which I am still experiencing ghost effects of every now and then).  We miss all of you and we have been thinking of you every day, which says a lot about you because its easy to forget anything else exists when floating in microgravity.

Today was jammed packed with pre-flight preparation.  After being briefed for the day’s events, our team spent a couple hours leak testing the experiment box to ensure it would be ready to be loaded on NASA’s C-9.  This experiment testing gave Jose and I a chance to practice our in-flight procedures one final time.  During our practice, we had the privilege to show our two mentors, Jonathan Braun & Nik Adam,  the in’s-and-out’s of our rig for the first time.

They both seemed pleased with our experiment design and procedure.  We were also given a chance to ask for their advice for our upcoming zero-g flight.  As you can guess, their stories of zero-g only heightened our excitement.  After lunch, it was our team’s chance to load our experiment onto the C-9 after the aircraft arrived with the other teams who flew today.

We carried the box (which weighs approximately 50 lbs) across the hangar and stepped into NASA’s “Weightless Wonder” for the first time.  Walking about the cabin gave us a chance to get a feel for what we will be expecting over the next couple of days.  After NASA’s flight staff gave us our location for our rig aboard the aircraft, we strapped the experiment to the C-9’s floor.

The securing process did not take our team very long, and we were able to move onto getting fitted in our flight suits earlier than most team (but not before we got to take a picture of us with the finished product!).

For the final portion of our day, we were given our flight suits and taught techniques to help reduce the chance of motion sickness during zero-g.  One of the NASA coordinators of the zero-g program even commended our team specifically for receiving positive feedback from both a JSC engineer and our NASA mentor!  This was very encouraging, as we have tried very hard to leave a favorable impression for possible future teams from the University of Pittsburgh to participate in the program.

When we left the final meeting of the day, Jose and I were very pleased to see that we were officially cleared to fly our mission tomorrow!  Adam and Mike were also excited to see that all of our hard work is finally paying off and are undoubtedly awaiting anxiously for their zero-g flight on Friday.

Before leaving Ellington Field for the day, we thought it would be fun to take a picture in front of NASA’s retired zero-gravity aircraft, the KC-135.  What’s interesting about this specific KC-135 is that it was the actual plane that was used during the filming of the movie Apollo 13!

After so much of all of our hard work, preparation, and time, tomorrow Jose and I will finally experience zero gravity.  I am so excited that I know it will be hard for me to sleep tonight, but I will have to try.  Be sure to check back tomorrow to hear all about it!

Today was a pretty relaxing day, all things considered.  We were able to watch the first flight group board the C-9B and roll out to the tarmac and fly their experiments.  Today consisted mostly of briefings and formalities.  Our structural analysis is complete and we are on track to fly (John and I on Thursday, and Mike and Adam on Friday).  An important action item completed today was that we were able to confirm the utility of the camera arm mount provided by the Reduced Gravity Office.  The camera arm will suit our purposes perfectly and our experiment is all set to go.  Below is a picture of us plus Jonathan (our mentor from Purdue University who recently completed his Master’s) in the hangar in front of the experiment box!

To decompress and unwind some, we went to a couple of souvenir shops and bought knick knacks and mementos for our family and friends.  We then ate at a McDonalds with a ‘Space Place’ as opposed to a ‘Play Place’.  It sounds cooler than it was, although there was a big astronaut on the outside with some French Fries.

After lunch, our group attended an employment briefing about how to acquire jobs with NASA (or with NASA contractors) for Manned Spaceflight.  We also had an astronaut come as speak to us which was quite exciting.  He was very informative and interesting and showed us several video clips of a previous space shuttle mission.