Can You Really Simulate Zero-G?

Douglas Adams described the process of flying as "throwing yourself at the ground and missing." At some point it occurred to me that that's pretty much how things in orbit work.

Circuitmike

I am really happy for you to have had the experience, there is plenty to take in, both emotionally and intellectually, I look forward to the next videos! But I am not quite seeing your view on gravity. First, the centre of the Earth would be true zero gravity, Gauss's Law explains that because there is no "enclosed mass" of a sphere at radius r=0. You would feel nothing, there is nothing pulling you apart. Second, this was a freefall, not zero gravity. You were 'weightless' but not in zero gravity. Essentially no different to skydiving, except with skydiving you would feel the atmosphere hitting you in face as well as you would see the ground getting closer and closer so you know you are falling. In an airplane, the airplane gets to absorb the atmosphere for you and your visual reference is the airplane interior, you don't see that you are falling. It is a local illusion that there is zero gravity. But it is a perfect illusion, nevertheless.

Because..........

Fran Blanche

Fixed

Fran Blanche

Not quite on the ball with explaining gravity there..

Jasper

The rate at which the 727 is descending has to match the speed at which the occupants are also descending in free fall. There is a video of a pilot named Bob Hoover doing a barrel roll while pouring ice tea into a glass. BTW: Hoover was the guy flying the chase plane when Yaeger first broke the sound barrier.

Michael A Klaene

Thanks Fran, I think I got it. The earth is flat and the universe revolves around a pencil. Very interesting. I just wonder how many turtles the pencil is sitting on?

Doug McRae

Thanks Fran! Interesting. 🙂

Joacim Wennerberg

I never thought about it like this before, but you are right, it is the real thing not a simulation.

David Peaker

Excellent again! Well done Fran!

Donald J Arndt

Actually, that is precisely how they do it, and it can be 3 pilots https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FO_Ox_dH0M8

veritanuda

Minor typo in the description here and on the youtube video, you held the shift key when you pressed 0 (assuming standard US qwerty keyboard).

Maarten Daalder

You don't look different Fran but you will feel different for the rest of your life, having experienced albeit briefly, what very few have. I am proud to be part of the "crew" that made it happen for you, or at least made it less financially painful.

Dr Andy Hill

This was a pretty good explanation of a very complex subject for the masses.

Dr Andy Hill

Taking on an explanation of General Relativity is pretty gutsy even for a practicing physicist. Well done.

Mike O'Dell

OK Fran, lookin good in your NASA flight suit, I fully expect you to get offers to do an actual space flight like the civilian flight that blasted otf today!! You're a natural!! As someone who was involved in aerospace industry to put people on the moon in the early sixties, I'm proud of your accomplishments!

I assumed that the parabola plane control would have been automated? It's a tough ask for two pilots to control that manually and perfectly for a dozen runs.

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