2008 Woodie Awards
Fighting gravity
Students enjoy Zero G flight
Jillian Krotki
Issue date: 3/19/08 Section: News
"I was selected to be group leader because everyone wanted me to get the learning experience," Hirst said. "I will definitely need the leadership skills."
Hirst said the most difficult obstacle to overcome as the group leader was the large amount of paperwork.
It took them about two months to complete their creation. There were six students working on the project, called "14 Minutes to Midnight," which happened to be the time it was finally finished.
Corbin said they decided to create an "autonomous experiment designed to view the fluid interactions of variable density liquids under the influence of artificial gravity."
This device rotates a transparent, rectangular box filled with half water and half oil.
"When it is turned on in zero gravity," Corbin said, "the fluids separate into three columns with the water on the sides and the oil in the center."
Despite the successful outcome, this group had its fair share of setbacks, from difficulty getting simple functions to work to the Federal Aviation Administration notifying them two weeks prior to the due date that they had to change their experiment due to flammable material.
"It was also really tough to figure out what would work in Zero G," Hirst said.
On the Zero G flight, the plane flew in a parabolic manner consisting of roughly eight drops, allowing the passengers to experience 30-35 seconds of weightlessness per drop.
"Out of instinct, everyone jumps within the first point five seconds of weightlessness," Hirst said, "so there was a lot of sore heads afterwards."
Both Hirst and Corbin said they hope to have this opportunity again.
"I'd been looking forward to a Zero G flight for four years," Corbin said. "I was only nervous about the possibility of getting sick."
Only about 5 percent of passengers actually get sick on Zero G flights. They're given medicine before the flight to help prevent that particular side effect.
"It was the best feeling," Hirst said about the flight. "It feels like the world is falling down around you."
Space Florida plans to do four more student flights this year. Each flight costs more than $4,000 per person, so being able to take a flight at no cost truly is a great opportunity for students with a strong interest in space exploration.
For more information on Zero G flights or to reserve a seat on an upcoming flight, visit www.gozerog.com. ?
Hirst said the most difficult obstacle to overcome as the group leader was the large amount of paperwork.
It took them about two months to complete their creation. There were six students working on the project, called "14 Minutes to Midnight," which happened to be the time it was finally finished.
Corbin said they decided to create an "autonomous experiment designed to view the fluid interactions of variable density liquids under the influence of artificial gravity."
This device rotates a transparent, rectangular box filled with half water and half oil.
"When it is turned on in zero gravity," Corbin said, "the fluids separate into three columns with the water on the sides and the oil in the center."
Despite the successful outcome, this group had its fair share of setbacks, from difficulty getting simple functions to work to the Federal Aviation Administration notifying them two weeks prior to the due date that they had to change their experiment due to flammable material.
"It was also really tough to figure out what would work in Zero G," Hirst said.
On the Zero G flight, the plane flew in a parabolic manner consisting of roughly eight drops, allowing the passengers to experience 30-35 seconds of weightlessness per drop.
"Out of instinct, everyone jumps within the first point five seconds of weightlessness," Hirst said, "so there was a lot of sore heads afterwards."
Both Hirst and Corbin said they hope to have this opportunity again.
"I'd been looking forward to a Zero G flight for four years," Corbin said. "I was only nervous about the possibility of getting sick."
Only about 5 percent of passengers actually get sick on Zero G flights. They're given medicine before the flight to help prevent that particular side effect.
"It was the best feeling," Hirst said about the flight. "It feels like the world is falling down around you."
Space Florida plans to do four more student flights this year. Each flight costs more than $4,000 per person, so being able to take a flight at no cost truly is a great opportunity for students with a strong interest in space exploration.
For more information on Zero G flights or to reserve a seat on an upcoming flight, visit www.gozerog.com. ?