The Search for Zero Gravity

You never know who you’re going to meet at the Armstrong Air and Space Museum!  This summer I ran into 2 former students.  Carson was at the June space camp.  He’ll be in 5th grade at Spencerville this year.  Sorry, Carson, I forgot to get a picture! 
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Carmen’s picture is above.  She’s going into 6th grade at Elida.  Go Dawgs go!  I love seeing my ‘old’ students, and most of all I love them remembering me!  Carmen was at the museum the day I manned the Zero Gravity trainer.

When you think zero gravity, do you picture a satellite, or an astronaut in outer space?  They’re both heavy!  Neil’s suit weighed 188 pounds.  It’d sink in water but float in outer space.  The satellite is even heavier, but it floats too!  Imagine that!
 
Would you like to experience zero gravity?  It’s not cheap!  Going to the moon will cost $300-600 million per person.  If a few friends chip in, you’d only pay $100 million each. 
 
Going into space is a little cheaper.  In 2009 Guy Laliberte, owner of Cirque De Soleil, paid $35 million for a 12-day voyage to the international space station.  Guy said it was worth every penny.  Google said it’s about $10,000 per pound now to get you into space.  If you weigh 100 pounds, that’s $100 million.  Ouch!  Time for a diet!

See the people flying?  They’re taking a plane ride with Zero-G for $4,950, plus 5% tax. $5450 gets you 15 parabolic maneuvers (one is shown in the graph above).  Each one will last 20-30 seconds.  BTW, a parabolic maneuver is like taking a roller coaster ride in and out of the atmosphere, into outer space.  If you don’t like coasters, don’t go…its nickname is ‘The Vomit Comet.’  YUCK!!

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Speaking of roller coasters, how about this zero gravity ride?  You can find at amusement parks like Cedar Point.  Best of all, it’s cheap.  Really!  An all-day pass at Cedar Point is only $49.  Let’s ride!

But there’s something less expensive, the Armstrong Air and Space Museum zero gravity trainer.  Adults can visit for $8 a day, $4 for kids.  5 and under is free.  ​

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This is the zero gravity trainer.  It works like a hover board.  Carmen loved it!  So did the kids from the Delaware summer program who spent the day at the museum.  I was their zero gravity guide, but I felt a carnival worker.  I kept the line moving so everyone got a turn, and those who loved it got seconds.

If you visit the museum, here are my your zero gravity tips…Put a foot on the outside edge of the black hoses.  Get comfortable.  Someone from the museum will switch on the motor (it looks and sounds like a vacuum cleaner).  Voila!  You will be floating on air.  Only by a couple inches, but you’ll still be floating!  The bars help you push and pull your way around.  I wonder how real astronauts move.  A swim stroke? 
 
When the ride’s over, stay put.  Someone will switch off the motor, then you wait for the board to touch down.  Want to go again?  Just get in line!  Come and enjoy!