Tag: Zero-G

From Parabolic Flights to the International Space Station: Technology Tests for the Cosmic Kiss Mission in Weightlessness

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Retinal microcirculation in weightlessness test (Credit: Nicolas Courtioux/Novespace)
  • The 36th parabolic flight campaign of the German Space Agency at DLR took place from June 4th to 11th, 2021 from Paderborn airport.
  • In addition to eight experiments from the fields of human physiology, technology and physics, technology tests are carried out for the International Space Station (ISS) mission.
  • Topics include health care during space missions and gender-sensitive medicine.

PADERBORN, Germany (DLR PR) — At the 36th Parabolic flight campaign of the German Space Agency at DLR, which took place from June 4 to 11, 2021 from Paderborn airport, various technology tests for the “Cosmic Kiss” mission of the German ESA astronaut Matthias Mauer were carried out in advance in weightlessness.  These include “Retinal Diagnostics” for eye health for astronauts and “Thermo-Mini” for measuring human body temperature during space missions. Matthias Maurer will take off for the International Space Station ISS in autumn 2021. 

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Zero Gravity Corporation Announces Investment From Private Equity Firm Rock Mountain Capital

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Cryogenic propellant chill-down experiments from the University of Florida have accumulated data over multiple parabolic flight campaigns. Others flew for the first time on ZERO-G’s recent flights. (Credit: NASA)

ARLINGTON, Va., Feb. 25, 2021 (ZERO-G PR) — Zero Gravity Corporation (ZERO-G), a weightless flight company offering the country’s only microgravity experience, announced a recent financing round led by Rock Mountain Capital (RMC), a private equity firm working with entrepreneurs and management teams in consumer goods and services, TMT and healthcare. RMC’s investment will help further the commercial development of ZERO-G’s consumer flight program and the company’s renowned weightless research lab.

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Keeping Spacecraft on Course with Propellant Management Technologies

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Carthage students Taylor Peterson (left) and Celestine Ananda are shown here observing the gauging of unsettled liquids during a period of microgravity on a flight with ZERO-G in November 2018. (Credits: Carthage College)

by Nicole Quenelle
NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center

Rocket off course? It could be a slosh problem.

Propellant slosh, to be exact. The motion of propellant inside a rocket-based launch vehicle or spacecraft tank is an ever-present, vexing problem for spaceflight. Not only can it make gauging the amount of available propellant difficult, but the volatile waves of liquid can literally throw a rocket off its trajectory.

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NASA Selects Promising Purdue Space Technologies for Commercial Flight Tests

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Steven Collicott, Purdue University professor of aeronautics and astronautics, shown here in zero gravity, will have four projects under grants.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Faculty members in Purdue University’s schools of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Mechanical Engineering are among a list of 28 researchers whose technologies have been selected to receive funding under NASA’s Tech Flights solicitation.

Steven Collicott , professor of aeronautics and astronautics, will receive four separate grants totaling $1.8 million for four different experiments. Issam Mudawar, the Betty Ruth and Milton B. Hollander Family Professor of Mechanical Engineering, will receive one grant in the amount of $649,851.

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NASA Selects 31 Promising Space Technologies for Commercial Flight Tests

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by Nicole Quenelle
NASA’s Flight Opportunities Program

NASA has selected 31 promising space technologies for testing aboard parabolic aircraft, high-altitude balloons, and suborbital rocket-powered systems. By exposing the innovations to many of the rigors and characteristics of spaceflight – without the expense of an orbital flight – NASA can help ensure these technologies work correctly when they are deployed on future missions.

“By supporting suborbital flight testing, our Flight Opportunities  program aims to help ensure that these innovations are well-positioned to address challenges and enable NASA to achieve its lunar ambitions, while also contributing to a growing and vibrant commercial space industry,” said Jim Reuter, associate administrator of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD). The Flight Opportunities program is part of STMD.

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ZERO-G Celebrates 15 Years

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Participants experience microgravity aboard a Zero-G Corporation parabolic flight. (PRNewsFoto/Zero Gravity Corporation, Al Powers)

ARLINGTON, Va. (ZERO-G PR) – 2019 marks a historic year for the country’s first weightless flight company,Zero Gravity Corporation (ZERO-G), as they celebrate 15 years of offering extraordinary experiences. As the company looks forward toward a path of exploration, they celebrate a history that is marked with incredible milestones and unforgettable airborne memories.

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Competition for Teachers to Host Weightless Science Class with Zero-G Corporation

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G-FORCE ONE (Credit: Zero-G Corporation)

ARLINGTON, Va. (Zero-G PR) — How do you get (and keep) your students’ attention during a lesson? By testing the limits of gravity with a ride in the nation’s only weightless laboratory! Zero Gravity Corporation (ZERO-G) has announced plans for Mission: Microgravity, a nationwide competition for students and teachers of grades 8-12, that will award one educator with an out-of-this-world flight experience and a little extra classroom clout.

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First-Time and Frequent-Flying Payloads Benefit from Recent Parabolic Demonstrations

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Cryogenic propellant chill-down experiments from the University of Florida have accumulated data over multiple parabolic flight campaigns. Others flew for the first time on ZERO-G’s recent flights. (Credit: NASA)

EDWARDS, Calif. (NASA PR) — From November 13 to 16, Zero Gravity Corporation’s G-FORCE ONE modified 727 completed its latest parabolic research flight campaign for Flight Opportunities. Seven NASA-supported technology payloads were demonstrated during the campaign’s four flights.

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NASA Flight Opportunities Program Selects 15 Space Technologies for Tests

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New Shepard booster over the landing pad. (Credit: Blue Origin)

EDWARDS, Calif. (NASA PR) — NASA’s Flight Opportunities program has selected 15 promising space technologies to be tested on commercial low-gravity simulating aircraft, high-altitude balloons and suborbital rockets. These flights will help advance technologies for future spaceflight, taking them from the laboratory to a relevant flight environment.

During an Aug. 28 visit to NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, where the Flight Opportunities program is managed, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said the agency will focus on funding more of these payload flights in the future.

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Final Frontier Design Completes Testing & Validation of IVA Suit

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IVA spacesuit in a “float” test. (Credit: Final Frontier Design)

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, December 20, 2017 (FFD PR) – Final Frontier Design (FFD) completed 4 microgravity research flights on Zero Gravity Corporation’s (ZERO-G) Boeing 727, in November 2017, to evaluate and qualify their Intra Vehicular Activity (IVA) space suit for the dynamic environment of space flight.

The testing marks the culmination of a NASA Flight Opportunities Program cooperative agreement with FFD, and was supported by Integrated Spaceflight Services (ISS) of Boulder, Colorado. A team of 15 people from FFD and ISS assisted to safely execute the mission.

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Future Looks (Mostly) Bright for Space Industry in DC

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The Next Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference is being held in Colorado through today. I wasn’t able to attend this year, but the following folks are there tweeting away:

  • Jeff Foust‏ @jeff_foust
  • Rand Simberg‏ @Rand_Simberg
  • Colorado Space News‏ @CO_Space_News
  • Laura Seward Forczyk @LauraForczyk

Below are updates based upon their tweets on what is happening in Washington, DC, from talks by officials from the FAA, NASA, and the Commercial Spaceflight Federation.
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NASA Selects New Technologies to Flight Test on Parabolic Aircraft, Balloons & Suborbital Rockets

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EDWARDS, Calif. (NASA PR) — NASA has selected nine space technologies to test on low-gravity-simulating aircraft, high-altitude balloons or suborbital rockets. The opportunity to fly on these vehicles helps advance technologies closer to practical use by taking them from a laboratory environment to a real-world environment. The selections were made by NASA’s Flight Opportunities program, which conducts a competition approximately twice per year for funding to fly payloads using flight providers selected by the proposers. These space technologies are being tested using relatively low-cost flights that simulate spaceflight or just reach the “edge” of space.

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JPL Researchers Validate Technology Performance on Zero-G Parabolic Flights

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Research team members evaluate the performance of the Biosleeve Gesture Control Interface for Telerobotics on a March 2017 parabolic flight. (Credit: NASA)

EDWARDS, Calif. (NASA PR) — A series of parabolic flights from Zero Gravity Corporation (ZERO-G) in March 2017 enabled researchers to test and validate the performance of two technologies from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL):

  • Comet Sample Verification System (T0164-P): A tool that enables researchers to verify the quantity and volume of a sample from a comet surface before bringing it back to Earth for analysis
  • Biosleeve Gesture Control Interface for Telerobotics (T0161-P): A sleeve-based gesture-recognition interface that provides intuitive force and position control signals from natural arm, hand, and finger movements, with the potential to be embedded in clothing worn by astronauts working on the International Space Station (ISS) and other missions

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University Research Teams Validate Payload Performance on ZERO-G Parabolic Flights

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University of Florida students work on revolutionary approach for efficient microgravity transfer line chilldown experiment. (Credit: NASA)

EDWARDS, Calif. (NASA PR) — Several payload proposals selected from NASA’s Research Announcement: Space Technology Research, Development, Demonstration, and Infusion (REDDI) 2016 solicitation flew as part of a Zero Gravity Corporation (ZERO-G) parabolic flight campaign during two weeks in March 2017.

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William Shatner to Float on Zero-G Flight

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LAS VEGAS (Zero-G PR) – Star Trek® fans rejoice! Zero Gravity Corporation (ZERO-G®) has partnered with Roddenberry Adventures to offer an extraordinary ZERO-G Experience® with William Shatner, beloved star of the iconic television series. For the first time, fans will have the chance to fly in zero gravity with the man who played Captain Kirk. A limited number of tickets for this exclusive flight on August 4 are now on sale to the general public.

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